Pour Épargner l'Avenir
by TsumetaiYuuki
Summary: Harry hadn't had the best life, but with friends he felt like he could do anything. Now, the friends were gone, the war won, and he felt worse than ever. With the help of Luna & Draco he tries to right the wrongs of the past and make a brighter future.
1. Prologue

**Hi!!! My second fic, as some can tell. School has started for me today, but I had a terrible urge to write something. So, without anymore interruptions, my new fic!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any other J.K. Rowling's other brilliant creations. Sad, isn't it…sigh…=)**

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Prologue

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Everything had gone wrong. Sure, the war was won, and Voldemort was defeated, but at what price? The price of his best friends, and dearest family. All of them gone. He would never see Ron again, playing chess with him, even though he was being pounded into the ground. Hermione, peering over her book, listening to him, talk about his latest troubles (which were a lot). Sirius, fun-loving yet extremely protective of him.

Everyone slaughtered mercilessly, almost all while protecting and helping him. He felt so guilty, so helpless. Yes, the war was over, but there was no one to celebrate the occasion with.

Draco, who had defected to the light after his father died, brought him a tray, loaded with food, Luna right behind him. Draco and Luna had been the only people who he could confide in with everyone else gone.

He had been pouring over ancient texts and tomes, stuck inside the Potter vault for years upon years, searching for a way to do something, to save his friends, no matter the consequences. It had been several months, with little to no progress.

"Harry, you have to eat something, sleep, do something besides pour over those books. You're draining all of your energy. You can't go on like this!" The black haired boy lifted his dull green gaze, at the sound of Draco's voice, and looked into the silver-grey eyes of both standing in front of him. "I have to do this, Draco, Luna. I just have to,"

"No, what you have to do is eat and rest! You've been wearing yourself down for months! Stop this!" Luna exclaimed. Tears trickled down her face, and a few stray tears down his, pent up emotions bursting out, and exploding.

"Fine," the raven sighed. "Give me five more minutes, and I'll rest for an hour or two." "No, Harry! You have to sleep! Look, I know you feel an obligation to bring everyone back, but you're not going to help anyone in a hospital bed from lack of sleep and food!" Draco cut in.

"If you rest for a week, I'll take you to the Malfoy vaults and search for more stuff there. Just rest first!" "I'll take you to the Lovegood vault, too, and help you look!" Luna added in.

Harry sighed, but pulled himself out of his seat, knowing that both Luna and Draco would never let him have access to their vaults unless both were truly desperate for him to relax. The blond had wanted to sever all ties with his old family, especially because of the way they had treated him. The blonde hadn't visited her vault since her father died, painful memories brought up every time anything regarding the Lovegoods were mentioned.

He stumbled, legs numb from lack of use, and Draco caught him, grasping his shoulder. As embarrassing as it was, he really didn't have any energy to protest, as he was running on pure adrenaline, and was extremely tired and weary. Luna spoon fed him his supper, and then Draco pushed him in bed, and covered him up in a blanket.

Harry's last conscious thought was that he was very thankful both Draco and Luna were still there with him, even without the need to. Otherwise he would have collapsed months ago, unable to handle the stress and grief. With that, everything went dark, Harry finally allowing his body much needed rest

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**And that's a wrap! The prologue to my new story! I'll try to update soon, but I am quite busy with the school year starting and everything. The beginning's a bit angsty, but it'll get better. Why Draco and Luna?...Originally it was just Draco, but I like Luna, and Draco. There two of my favorite characters. I'll put a poll up for pairings soon, and go to my profile page to vote! I'll probably change the title of this fic soon. Sorry about the long author's note, there will be shorter ones, as the story progresses. Please review, it encourages faster updates! Thanks! =)**

**~Maiden of Books**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hi! I'm back…this is a relatively fast update for me but I'm in a really good mood because my first week of school is over, and I can just relax at home. Anyways, thanks to **_beccayrose12_** for taking the time to review, this chapter is dedicated to you! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter…or Spirited Away…or H.I.V.E…or Inkheart…or Artemis Fowl…I don't own anything!!! Ahem, sorry, overly dramatic. **

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Chapter One

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As Harry was sleeping peacefully, for the first time in so many weeks, Luna and Draco were talking in the sitting room over a cup of tea. Neither knew what to do anymore, Harry just wouldn't stop looking for a solution, and it was taking a huge toll on him.

Both were desperate enough to take him to their vaults, albeit their own painful pasts. They both loved him like family, the remaining family any of them had left.

"What are we going to do, Draco?" Luna asked quietly under her breath, not wanting to disturb the finally resting Harry. "I honestly have to idea," Draco replied, "but we have to find a solution to this problem, or Harry will collapse. "Do you think there really will be something in either of our vaults?" Luna inquired. "I don't know, but it can't hurt Harry to try," sighed Draco.

They set their tea cups down, whispered a good night to each other, and then retreated to their own rooms for a long night. Draco lied on his bed thinking, and Luna curled up with a book, half reading half reminiscing about the past, and wondering about the future.

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In the morning Harry was the first to wake, much like always. He knew that if he stressed himself anymore Luna and Draco would bind him to the bed and lock him in his room, like last time. Harry knew that did what they thought best, and was grateful, although slightly frustrated. He decided to make breakfast for the three of them and headed to the kitchen.

The raven-haired boy got out three eggs, some bacon, and three English muffins out of the refrigerator. He set a pan on the stove, and got to work falling into a familiar routine of what he did every morning before he went to Hogwarts.

Setting out butter, jam, clotted cream, and marmalade with the completed breakfast Harry heard moving upstairs. He knew that Luna and Draco should both be up soon, as they kept early hours with him. Harry put a pitcher of coffee on the table, along with the sugar and cream Luna drank with it. He poured himself a cup, then sat down and waited for his companions to come downstairs.

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Luna had woken to the delicious smell of bacon and eggs, and wondered if she was back in her room, before the war with her mother in the kitchen making breakfast and father sitting at the table. Then she remembered she lived with Draco and Harry, and she was the one who usually made breakfast, then proceeded to stuff it down his throat and forcing him to eat it.

The blonde wondered who was making breakfast, and thought that it was probably Draco and Harry must still be pouring over books. She sighed and dragged herself out of bed and walked into the bathroom. Luna relaxed under the hot water, muscles un-tensing.

After a short yet satisfying shower the silver-eyed girl made her way around her room moving in a familiar pattern. Luna was really hungry and dressed quickly before making her way towards the stairs. She bumped into someone, and looked up. "Draco!" she exclaimed. "If you're here then where's Harry?" Draco asked. They smelled the finished breakfast wafting scents down the hall, and both rushed downstairs.

"What took you so long?" Harry asked, half smiling over a mug of coffee. The two blonds gazed sheepishly at each other then at Harry and sat down. "What brings you here, Harry? And when did you make breakfast?" Draco asked. "Well, I was going to make breakfast and I was down here at six," Harry said, smiling a bit at Draco's questions.

"Well, whatever reasons you were downstairs, it's a nice change." Luna commented, helping herself to some coffee, using the cream and sugar that Harry had helpfully set out for her. Harry merely smiled again, the most he had been for a long period of time.

Draco sat down too, loading some eggs and bacon on his plate as Harry poured him a cup of coffee. They ate in comfortable silence each eating their delicious breakfast. As Harry bit into an English muffin smothered in jam and clotted cream Draco asked him, "When do you want to go to Gringotts?" "As soon as you are both ready and finished eating," the brunet replied.

Both blonds nodded and concentrated on eating their breakfasts. Harry sat drinking his cup of coffee, and thinking. When Luna and Draco were done, they all grabbed their stuff (and donned cloaks) and walked out. Harry walked a couple paces in front with both of them trailing behind him.

As the trio walked into Diagon Alley they were all extremely happy they had donned their cloaks, or they would have been swamped by the daily visitors. Diagon Alley had been remodeled after the final battle and now stood as proud as ever. The two blonds and the brunet strolled over to the extremely familiar Gringotts and Luna walked up to a goblin, lifting her hood slightly.

"Access to the Lovegood vault and Malfoy vaults, please," she asked, gesturing towards Draco. He also lifted his hood, along with Harry. The goblin eyed the three and then led them to the railroad tracks that led underground. All three of them remembered their first trip to Gringotts, and how innocent they had been.

Harry, Luna, and Draco stepped into the Lovegood vault. Harry and Draco each put a hand on Luna's shoulders and squeezed gently trying to provide confidence. Luna shook slightly, but lifted her shoulders and head and strode forward. There were not that much gold, although still a great amount, yet a lot of expensive books and artifacts.

Luna glided through; almost idly picking up that she though would be of use. Harry and Draco trailed after her, although neither touched anything, allowing Luna to deal with the information gathering.

The goblin at the door bowed, handed her a pouch, and then eyed them before backing out of the vault. Luna placed things in the pouch silently, and Harry felt extremely guilty for making her relive any memories she had of her old life. Luna and Draco, seeming as if they both felt his guilt gently placed hands on his arm and shoulder. Harry managed a weak smile.

After Luna thoroughly combing the vault she took the items she had placed into the pouch and turned around to look at Harry. "Don't feel guilty, Harry, I have to face my past anyway. We all do," The brunet knew she was right but couldn't help but feel pangs of guilt and sadness running through him. Especially since they were both doing this for him.

The trio stepped out of the vault, Draco unusually silent. Finally he spoke to the goblin, who had been waiting outside. "Take us to the Malfoy vaults that hold the books and artifacts." The goblin nodded, and led them back into the cart to travel deeper underground. Harry gave Draco a small hug, and felt another pang of guilt run through him. Draco tried to smile, and squeezed Harry a bit back.

"I'll be fine," Draco said, "I have to do this sooner or later, just like Luna said." Harry sighed, and got out of the cart as they screeched to a stop in front of a Malfoy vault. They took what they needed then left after thanking the goblin. The three donned their hoods again and walked back to their shared house.

Harry helped Luna make lunch, while Draco took a shower. As he stirred a pot of spaghetti sauce over the stove, he couldn't help but hope that something, anything that could help him was in one of those two pouches that the blonds h ad put on the sofa in the living room.

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Meanwhile, Draco was in the shower, feeling quite down. He knew that his family had never really loved him, just for being him, and the trip to the Gringotts had painfully reminded him of that. He sighed and finished up thinking that whatever Harry could find, he was looking forward to finding something to redo his life.

Draco pulled on some clothes then joined Luna and Harry for the meal they had made. After clearing the table Harry had joined Luna and Draco in their living room. "Did you find anything?" the emerald eyed teen asked them. "Not yet, Harry," Luna answered him, and together they dived back into the books.

After searching until it was time for dinner they ordered out, buying some Chinese food. The trio ate together then turned back to the books. At three in the morning Luna had nodded off, then Draco at five. Harry kept searching until he reached a book, shrunk, filed into a book about cooking (which he thought really weird, yet flipped through it anyway), which had been filed into a book about blood rituals.

Harry thought it odd that the book would be in there, and looked at the title. Time Magic for the Tortured Soul. Well it sounded perfect. He flipped through it until he reached a certain page. He gasped, waking both Luna and Draco accidentally. They all peered at the page with wide eyes…

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**Yay, that's a wrap! This is five pages long on Word, but I can't type anymore! And that seemed like a good place to stop…don't kill me for the cliffy! I'll update as soon as I can, hopefully sometime this weekend. Please review, this was the longest chapter I've written! **


	3. Chapter 2

**Hey, everyone! I'm really sorry about the really late update, but my computer crashed, the teachers loaded us with homework, tests, the list goes on and on. So, without further adieu, here's Chapter 2!**

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing Harry Potter-like and most likely never will…=(**

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Chapter Two

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_Previous: They peered at the book with wide eyes…_

They peered at the book with wide eyes taking in the full implication of the meager words, difficult formula, spell, and potion. It would take at least six months to get a fully functional version, but it could be done. And that was all the three of them would ever ask for.

Then it set in. Luna started jumping up and down, and hugged Draco first, and then Harry, with all of her might. Though she was normally an austere person, she couldn't help but feel extremely excited at the first good thing that's happened to them in so long.

Draco sat there, a grin teasing at his lips, which then broke out into a full out happy smile. Harry just sat there completely shell-shocked and the book fell out of his hands. A smile soon played at his lips and he hugged Luna back enthusiastically.

In the book, a few meager pages had restored much hope into the trio. On it was a complicated yet doable spell, which would take much work. A potion with rare ingredients yet not that rare for Draco and Harry (potion-lovers, though Harry's talent was never encouraged much between the snarky potion's professor and expectations of him) to be unable to find.

Hope. Something the trio, especially Harry, had not felt for a very long time. The next few months went by in a flurry, all three preoccupied with their part of the task. Harry and Draco bustled around for ingredients, sometimes having to go to ridiculously far places during ridiculous times just to get a specific material. Like the harrow-wing flower during the next eclipse. The two potion-experts knew that harrow-wing flower only grew in Northern Antarctica, thriving well in the cold.

And, seriously, during an eclipse? The two were a bit miffed at this but at least it was possible. Luna, the best at charms, studied the spell diligently, working through it carefully, testing small portions that wouldn't effect anything in the house yet was a big part of getting the spell right. The only time the two blonds and one brunet saw each other was when they sat down to dinner to discuss their progress and take a break to eat.

One weekend, Luna put her foot down and sat everyone on the lounge in the living room to just relax for the first day in almost two months. "We all have to rest, guys, and if I'm the only one who's going to be sensible about this then I will be! Now sit, talk, and rest. We have to discuss what to do when (the _if_ not said but heard) we get back! Now relax!" She then blushed a little at the rant, but nevertheless they all knew she was right.

Harry sighed a bit, but laid back into the couch and gestured for the blond to begin talking. Draco also sank into the blue lounge and started talking at Harry's gesture. "So, Harry and I have gotten most of the ingredients for the potion but it will take to make then simmer, and we estimate about two full moons or about a month."

Luna nodded and began her part. "The spell is pretty complicated, but with my skill in Charms, Harry's in Transfiguration and your combined skills in Potions, we should be able to pull this off!" The three smiled and felt relaxed and calm for the first time in a while.

The months flew by quickly and Luna finished tinkering with the spells and Harry and Draco's combined efforts provided a perfect potion. At least they hoped so. Now the only thing left was to discuss what was to happen once they actually (hopefully) got back to their first year. Well, Harry and Draco's first year and Luna's year before Hogwarts. Which was one of the things that they had to talk about.

One Saturday morning the two blonds woke up to the smell of breakfast, and hopped out of bed, cleaned up, and walked downstairs. There was Harry, behind the counter, with three mugs of coffee and containers of sugar and cream. He set the breakfast drinks on the dining table and gestured for the two of them to sit down and eat.

As the two silver eyed teens sat down, they eyed him curiously. Why was he up so early? And why did Harry take the time needed to make a hearty breakfast? Both blonds shrugged and went back to filing eggs, sausages, and porridge into their mouths. Draco made a contented sound and Luna sighed happily after downing her warm coffee.

After the three teens had finished their breakfasts Draco and Luna sat back and turned to Harry. "What?" he asked them, lifting an eyebrow. Luna giggled and shoved him playfully in the arm. "Well? What do you need? You haven't made us breakfast since we found out about the information. We've all been really busy since then."

The emerald eyed teen smiled slightly. "We've finished most of everything. Now all we need to do is discuss what to do after we get there. So I figured I'd make a nice breakfast and then we could talk in my study. Sound good?" The two other teens nodded and both smiled too. The trio finished up their coffee and stood up together. The blonds trailed Harry into his study. Luna, Harry, and Draco settled themselves onto the numerous comfy chairs in Harry's sanctuary and turned to each other.

"We might as well get started," Luna stated. She leaned into her chair. "There's the problem with the three of us in different years. I've heard of an application you can fill out in one of the Ministry departments that let you go to Hogwarts a year early." "But do you want come to Hogwarts a year early?" Harry asked her. "Do you want to just stay at home and spend time with your father instead?" Luna closed her eyes, thinking of the possibility to spend one uninterrupted (mostly) year with her father.

She sighed and shook her head. "If I can go to Hogwarts a year early and help the two of you, it would be to our advantage. Let's see if we could set the date somewhere during the summer before Hogwarts started. I'll try and get my father to allow me to go to Hogwarts a year early. He'll probably say yes, as he's pretty open-minded." Both boys gazed at her a bit sympathetically, yet they both knew that it was for the best. Besides, if all of this succeeded Luna would have years to spend with her father.

"Okay, now that that's solved I have another important concern." Draco added. "What about all of the problems Voldemort had caused? And Harry's near death incidents in first, second, third (although accidently), fourth, fifth, and sixth years? And Cedric (Harry grimaced and Draco sent him an apologetic glance), Sirius (here Harry winced again), and Dumbledore, and my godfather, Severus? And everyone else, of course."

Harry sighed. "I guess we'll plan out what should happen in first year, and then meet over the summer to plan out the next year. It would be much easier than trying to plan it all in one night. By the way, we can't just let Sirius rot in Azkaban and let the traitor Pettigrew waltz around free. But how much can we change?"

"We'll try our best this time, Harry, to prevent everything. But if all else fails we could always just use the spell and potion again. Wasn't Wormtail that rat Ron carried around? Scabbers, he called it? We'll just capture the rat, and turn it in to Dumbledore somehow." Luna tried to say convincingly.

"There's another problem," Draco said, "what about Dumbledore?" "What about Dumbledore?" Harry asked him. "I mean, should we tell him? I personally don't think so. He might try to do a lot of things, but he used us as pawns for the 'greater good'." Draco replied. The other two agreed that they shouldn't tell Dumbledore, but Harry sighed a bit at the thought of lying to his grandfatherly figure.

"So what now?" Luna asked them, "Do we just wing it?" "Pretty much." Harry replied. "Except now we know what would happen, like Quirrel being a traitor, him cursing my broom, Voldemort in the back of his head, the Chamber of Secrets, the Marauders, Sirius, the Triwizard Tournament, the Ministry of Magic, the prophecy, the horcruxes and Hollows, and everything else." Harry winced and flinched a bit at a few bad memories.

Luna laid a gentle hand on the emerald eyed boy's shoulder and smiled comfortingly. "So we all agree then?" Draco asked them. "We'll do the ritual on Monday, after a good night's rest and dinner. We'll set the date for about June fifteenth, the summer before Hogwarts, and then Luna will send in the application. But what about mine and Harry's _families_?" His tone soured a bit at the word families especially since neither the Dursleys nor the elder Malfoys actually treated them like family.

Harry winced, but kept on. "Let's try and get Sirius free as soon as possible. Didn't you say that your family hated you, and didn't try to keep up a façade even outside your house? File an application for a change in guardianship, since Sirius is your mother's cousin, right?" Draco and Luna nodded, accepting the idea, but Draco noted that Harry didn't say anything about the Dursleys.

"What about the Dursleys?" Luna asked, perceptive as always, Draco noted. "Don't worry about me; I'll file a report too, as soon as Sirius is free. I'll be fine until then. But both silver eyed teen noticed that Harry's hands quivered a bit as he set up a brave front. They both thought determinedly to themselves that if they had anything to do about it Harry's godfather would be free as soon as possible. Harry had suffered quite a bit because of the Dursleys.

"What about houses?" Harry questioned the two blonds. "We were all in separate houses, me in Gryffindor, Draco in Slytherin, and Luna in Ravenclaw." "I suggest we all aim for Slytherin," Draco suggested. "Though most don't see this part of Slytherins, we all take care of our own. Sev will most likely take care of us all, even if he didn't really like you in our time." "Didn't really like me?" Harry scoffed. "He wanted to rip me apart?" "He's not that bad," Draco protested. "Fine, but what about Ron and Hermione? Especially Ron. He hated Slytherins!"

"Not really," Luna protested. "If he's truly your friend than he'll stick with you through thick or thin! He just has to get rid of some of the prejudices against Slytherins first." "Besides, we're certainly ambitious enough," drawled Draco. "Especially you Harry, how long did it take you to find this ritual?" "Do you both know I was almost sorted in Slytherin anyway?" Harry answered. "What!" Draco exclaimed sitting up straight. "And you chose Gryffindor, why!" "Well, I met you on the train and at Madam Malkin's," Harry replied.

Draco had to look sheepish at that, he wasn't at his best then. And he wasn't necessarily kind, insulting both Hagrid and Ron. They both looked at Luna, who shrugged. "I don't have any problems with Slytherin, and I was almost sorted in Slytherin anyway too. The hat couldn't decide, but yelled Ravenclaw at the last moment."

Draco sighed, it seemed like nobody appreciated Slytherin. Harry smiled, and said, "It seems everything is in order, then. Everything is done, the plans are made, and we're ready!" The Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw all smirked in anticipation, and left anyone who would have been watching wondering how Harry and Luna got into Gryffindor and Ravenclaw anyway.

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That Monday morning they all slept in, as if their bodies knew that they all needed a lot of energy for the following day. The trio woke at eleven, and had a nice hearty breakfast. Draco went to careful fetch the potion and Luna the enchantments. Harry cleared the living room, leaving a simple fluffy green rug on the floor. They all went upstairs to collect a few important things in a small knapsack each, and sat on the rug.

Luna held out her hands, and Draco and Harry joined their palms with her. She smiled slightly and gestured for Draco to dish out the potions. They each had a small vial that they had to drink, however vile it might taste. Draco gulped it down first, then the brunet, then the blonde, all making a face at the vile taste.

Luna drew ruins in paint on their clasped forearms, and started chanting under her breath, long complicate sequences. The runes started to glow golden, and Harry pumped magic into their clasped forearms. The three sat there for what seemed an eternity, Luna muttering the whole time. Finally Harry's vision began blurring, then Draco's, and finally Luna's. The three disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

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**And that's a wrap! Wow, this is six pages on Word! My fingers hurt….=) BTW, if you haven't voted for the pairings please vote! It's four ways tied between Harry/Hermione, Harry/None, Draco/Luna and Ron/Hermione. I want to thank **_**hpnut1**_** and **_**Shadow of Flame**_** for reviewing, and for your encouragement! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review. **


	4. Chapter 3

**Hi! Okay, I'm working on this chapter really early because of all the alerts and reviews! I'll try my best to get it finished this weekend, but I really should be working on homework. Anyways, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to all those who alerted, favorited, and reviewed my story! **

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Harry Potter, and I really dislike disclaimers…**

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Chapter Three

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Harry opened his eyes to a low wooden ceiling and tense muscles. He looked around and saw little spiders crawling around on the floor of the small cupboard. He saw the poor living conditions he had lived in for the first ten years of his life. And he felt his heart soar.

He was finally back! After the fail tries, the frustration! Harry smiled serenely, and promised himself that none of what happened in his past life would happen here. He was going to save them, save them all. With Luna and Draco, he would fix everything! Harry looked himself over and saw that he was the small child he was at ten again. Glasses, little body, and small limbs.

Despite himself, he grinned. The emerald-eyed teen glanced at where his simple watch normally sat on his wrist, and then remembered that he had nothing. Unfortunately. But he could deal with that. He just had to wait until Aunt Petunia's shrill voice penetrated his ears and screamed at him to come make breakfast for her precious 'Duddykins'.

Harry smiled at the ridiculous sounding nickname Aunt Petunia had given Dudley, and sighed. Everything was back to normal. And he wouldn't fail this time.

_Meanwhile with Draco_

Draco started awake, and got a full view of a room he hadn't seen since he had gone to the light side. Silver and green walls, Slytherin colors, courteously of his very Slytherin parents, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy nee Black. He smiled slightly, and thought, _Our plan must have worked. After so much planning, it finally worked!_ Then he stopped.

_I can't smile anymore. And in, _Draco glanced at the tempus charm that his mother had casted, because there was no way the Malfoys would use a _Muggle_ alarm clock, though it was much easier, _six hours I'll be expected for breakfast._ He sighed, in six hours he'd have to be a model Malfoy, cold and uncaring.

But at least everything was back, and he'd be darned if after all this work they failed again. He wouldn't fail this time.

_Meanwhile with Luna_

Luna woke to a medium sized room, very comfortable. She smiled the first thing she realized was that they did it! They were back! Her father! Xenophilius Lovegood was probably sleeping in the next room. Peaceful, calm, and most of all ALIVE! She wanted to see him, she wanted proof. An idea ran through her mind. She could just fake a nightmare and pretend to just be seeking comfort from her father.

Otherwise she would have to wait six hours and Luna seriously doubted she could wait that long. Besides, if she cried, Xeno would just assume that the nightmare was really bad this time. The female Lovegood smiled. She hopped out of bed, stumbling a bit. Luna raced to her father's bedroom, right where she remembered it was.

She shoved open the door, bursting in anticipation, and bounded onto Xenophilius's bed. The Quibbler editor sat up in bed with a yelp, peering down at the ten year old girl. Luna clutched at him desperately, after having longing for his grasp for years, ever since he was shot down by a Death Eater.

"There, there, honey, what's wrong?" Mr. Lovegood asked his only daughter, who was still clinging to him. "Nightmare," Luna sobbed out, glad that she had followed her plan, for it'd be hard to explain if she suddenly bursted out into tears over breakfast. Xenophilius said nothing, but held the girl tightly in his arms.

Luna's sobs slowly slowed, then stopped. The elder Lovegood hugged her and sat her next to him. "Do you want to sleep here tonight?" he asked. Luna nodded, still unable to speak, emotions choking her. Xeno lied down, and held Luna to his chest. Before sleep engulfed her, comfortably in her father's arms at last she thought, she wouldn't fail this time.

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That morning Harry woke back up to, just as he predicted, the horrible sound of his aunt's shrill voice. "Wake up, boy! Come make Duddykins his breakfast, he's a growing boy and needs lots of it!" Well, he definitely got lots of it, much more than Harry and so much he was bloated. The Dursleys were the only people he didn't mourn, though he felt a pang of loss at his last living blood relatives gone. Not that they treated him much like a nephew.

The raven-haired teen, now pre-teen, dressed quickly and shoved the small glasses taped together on his face. He really needed to get that fixed. Harry stumbled out of the cupboard and into the freakishly clean kitchen. He grabbed stuff out of the kitchen and with practiced movements made breakfast. Petunia dished out servings, a lot for Vernon and Dudley, a moderate amount for herself, and a small amount for that spawn of her sister's.

Harry was sat down with a glass of tap water while his Aunt Petunia made coffee for herself and Vernon, and poured orange juice for Dudley. She then left to wake her husband and son. Harry eyed the strong coffee enviously, wanting a nice warm cup of it. He sighed, was just reminded of why he really hated his relatives, and why he felt almost no remorse at their deaths.

His _family_ came bustling in, loud and obnoxious to his caffeine-deprived self. Uncle Vernon grunted at him, Aunt Petunia sniffed, and Dudley whacked him in the back of the head. Not that he couldn't have dodged it with his dueling reflexes, but it would look weird for him to suddenly be able to dodge Dudley.

Harry rubbed the back of his head, wincing a bit at the sudden pain. The four ate silently with Vernon occasionally moving a bit, Dudley's fork scraping against the plate, and Petunia constantly piling food on his cousin's plate. Then Vernon left for work, chucking a list of chores at his head. Petunia left for her gardening club, and Dudley to fool around with his friends. The emerald eyed boy silently did his chores with wandless and untraceable magic.

Then he slipped out the door quietly and traveled silently down the street to a muggle clothing shop. He got a cloak that hid his face and body well, and put a couple of wandless glamour charms on himself. Harry had brought a small supply of money with him before the trio had gotten to this time, and spent a small amount on bus fare to get to Muggle London.

The boy visited Gringotts, silently and carefully showing the secretive yet trustworthy goblins his unglamoured face, and though they were curious why he was here so early (as most wizards and witches come during the month of July, to get supplies for Hogwarts), the key to his vault from the future stopped them from asking questions. He rode the cart a breakneck pace, and smiled softly.

Harry reached the vault, thanked the goblin, and slipped in. He got a small supply of money, then walked over the where he had last left a magical trunk, in the future of course. It had several compartments, and was large enough to practice dueling and other things in, perfect for those mundane days with the Dursleys. The boy was slightly claustrophobic after being tossed in the cupboard under the stairs for hours on end, but knew that being in the trunk, practicing and a bit nervous was better than becoming lazy and getting killed.

The emerald eyed time traveler shrunk the trunk with a spell, and placed it in the small pouch. He would only need it at the Dursleys. At Hogwarts Luna, Draco, and him would just use the trusty Room of Requirements. Harry walked outside the vault, feeling déjà vu, and rode the cart back up. He thanked the small goblin, and traveled down Knockturn and Diagon Alley to get some necessities, such as food, drink, and a wand that couldn't be tracked and three way mirrors for the trio to communicate. Harry drifted from store to store, finally stopping at the shop where he had gotten Hedwig at eleven.

He walked in and was greeted by the clerk sitting at the desk. Hedwig flew down to meet him and nipped him on the ear. He smiled softly, he really had missed her. He paid the clerk for Hedwig and products to care for her, and was leaving as he heard, _Save me, save me!_ Harry involuntarily turned, and noticed a blue and green small snake, sitting in a cage and looking quite miserable.

The snake eyed him, and hissed, _Save me! You insolent humans, I don't belong in this small damp cage, with no sunlight or warmth._ Harry smiled, and asked the clerk, "How much is that snake in the cage?" The clerk jumped up, eager to sell the snake. "Name the price and it's yours." Harry gave the clerk a reasonable amount as well as some supplies and a cage to care for the snake and exited.

_Where are you taking me? _the snake hissed. Harry calmly rubbed the small snake's head, and the snake hissed contently. "I'll talk to you later," he told the small snake quietly. The snake huffed but allowed itself to be carried. Harry summoned the Knight Bus with his new untraceable wand, and quickly got to the Dursleys' house.

Harry got there, and slipped into the cupboard. He used wandless magic to enlarge the cupboard to the size of a small room. The pre-teen set the trunk on one side of the room, conjured up a bed, a small chest to the side of the bed, and set the pouch with his valuables on the chest. Harry warded the pouch containing the most important things he had. He set both the tank for the snake (which really needed a name) and Hedwig's cage up.

Harry fed them both, and then turned to the snake. _Who are you?_ the snake hissed at him. _I am Harry Potter,_ Harry hissed back at the snake. _A speaker?_ If the snake had eyebrows, they would have been raised to her hairline (which she also didn't have) in surprise. _Yes, _Harry hissed back. _What's your name?_ _You may call me Sapphire,_ the newly dubbed Sapphire replied. _I've never met a speaker before._ _Yes, speakers are pretty uncommon,_ Harry replied, quite wryly.

_You may take care of me,_ Sapphire told Harry, _and in turn I will help you as best as I can._ Harry agreed to the request, thinking about why this hadn't happened in the previous timeline. Probably because he was with Hagrid, and Hagrid had urged him onto the owls. He cast a warming charm on Sapphire's tank, and slipped her in.

He sighed. There wasn't much left to do but wait and train. Wait until his Hogwarts letter came. He would try to not be caught by the Dursleys this time; it would save a lot of trouble. Harry laid on his bed, and closed his eyes.

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And so the days went on with Harry doing his chores by magic, Draco enduring his horrible parents, and Luna spending much cherished time with her father. After about a week, she knew she had to get an application to the early enrollment form soon. After several hours, she had convinced her father, using the excuse that a good friend was going to be going this year, and she really wanted to graduate with the friend.

Well, it was completely lying, though it was somewhat a bad half-truth. Xeno Lovegood hesitantly agreed, and Luna was on her way. Her father sent to form in, and was approved. The three had agreed to get their supplies on the same day that Harry had in the past, so they could talk. And so that Harry could hand them three way mirror so that they could communicate in the future.

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Draco wasn't very happy. He had to be a perfect pure-blooded son, a perfect Malfoy. After so long of being free with Harry and Luna, it was quite difficult. The blond couldn't wait until Hogwarts came around.

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Harry, unfortunately, wasn't having that great a time. His Hogwarts letter had come, but, just like last time, had been intercepted by the Dursleys. Or more specifically Vernon Dursley. And, just like last time, he was practically kidnapped and shoved into the car, then into the creaky shack on the creaky island. Hooray.

Now, he was currently lying on the floor of the stone cold floor with a very thin blanket, and was very very unhappy. And cold. Don't forget to mention very cold. Well, it certainly was going the way the trio had planned. Anyways, he was lying on the floor, and waiting for the clock to strike and Hagrid to come rescue him. He hoped.

The clock stroke, but no one came. No loud booming, nothing. Completely silent. Then, all of a sudden, there was a knocking on the door. Well, Hagrid definitely couldn't move like that. Harry's uncle either hadn't heard the knocking, or chose to ignore it for the comfort of his bed. The knocking grew more and more persistent, louder and louder.

"Go away!" shouted Uncle Vernon, forgetting that they were on a deserted island, in the middle of a rainstorm. A very violent rainstorm. Aunt Petunia nudged him, and Vernon stumbled drunkenly out of bed. He opened the door, and got a face full of rain. "Yes, what do you want?" he mumbled grumpily.

Harry peered at the figure, and then groaned in his head. In the doorway was a figure dressed in all black, and looking very imposing. There was only one person who looked like that. Someone who hated him with the entire heart one could have. Or at least last time. In the doorway was the imposing figure of Severus Snape.

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**(Very tempted to leave it here, but I'll keep going.)**

"Well, open the door, don't just stand there," drawled out the familiar voice. The very sarcastic familiar voice. Vernon stared at the figure, and then bellowed (seeing the very peculiar wizard robes) "Get out of my house!" Not that the small shack was actually his. "Aren't you polite?" Severus Snape commented.

"I am here regarding your nephew," Snape proclaimed, then muttered under his breath, "whether I want to be or not." Obviously he wasn't very happy with this arrangement. Well, neither was Harry. His potions professor had tormented him on every occasion, and it was only his friendship with Draco and their future plans that he stopped from hexing Snape.

"We don't have a nephew!" Vernon bellowed out at Snape, and tried to slam the door shut. Snape put his foot in the door and drew out his wand, obviously out of patience. Harry, meanwhile, was trying to school his features to indifference, if not innocence, and failing miserably. This was definitely not going as planned, but at this rate he would still be able to meet up with Draco and Luna.

The emerald eyed child hunched up in his blanket and tried to look less hostile at the potions master. Snape barged in, tired of waiting, and continued pointing his wand at Harry's uncle. By then Aunt Petunia had gotten up and startled at Snape and the wand.

"You! That boy Lily used to go to that freak school with! The kid who lived next door!" Petunia exclaimed. "Do you know him, Pet?" Vernon asked his wife. "He's that freak that went to school with that freak sister of mine. The one who had gotten herself and her husband blown up by some psycho." Petunia responded. Harry remembered that his mother and Snape had lived right next door to each other and were best friends until Severus called Lily a 'mudblood.'

By now Snape wasn't very happy. He hadn't wanted to see Potter's spawn (purposely forgetting it was Lily's child too) and really didn't want to deal with the mean girl who lived next door to him as a child. He really couldn't believe that Lily and this creature were actually blood sisters.

Severus stalked in, grabbed a very displeased Harry by the elbow, and tugged him out. He levitated the two of them over the sea, and didn't stop pulling at Harry's sleeve until the two of them reached a motel on the side of the road. He paid for a night, and shoved Harry into a bed. "Sleep there," Snape told him, and stalked back out. Harry idly though about how terrified he would have been if he hadn't known about magic.

Very terrified indeed. Harry laid down on the bed and tried to go to sleep. He was so tired that he succeeded almost immediately, forgetting to remove his glasses. Two hours later Severus Snape came back in quietly, and stared at Harry. He removed Harry's glasses, and then stared at the pre-teen again. "For Lily," he muttered under his breath.

Then he stalked back out (he never seemed to walk anywhere, eh?) to who knows where. The next morning Harry was shook and awakened by a very grumpy Snape. "Get up, boy," Severus said. Snape took him by the wrist again, shoved a pair of glasses in his face, and continued pulling him. Snape checked out of the motel, and continued on to Diagon Alley. Or rather the Leaky Cauldron. The wall creaked open after the appropriate taps from Severus's wand, and they continued forth.

There, Snape was met by Minerva McGonagall, Transfiguration professor. The potions master handed the boy's wrist to McGonagall, and walked away. Now, during the whole time Harry was schooling his features to the appropriate amazement and shock and Severus was too preoccupied to notice.

Minerva turned to little Harry, and smiled kindly. "A bit overwhelming, Harry?" Harry knew he shouldn't do what he was about to do, but it was such a great opportunity! Or so he later said to his two blond companions. Harry looked at the professor, then dropped to the floor and curled up into himself.

"Help, help! Kidnappers who know my name!" Then Harry kept up an ear-piercing shriek. McGonagall was starting to look flustered, and a bit red from anger at Severus and embarrassment. "Harry, what are you doing?" Harry stopped. "See, you know my name!" Then continued his screaming.

"Don't you know who I am?" the cat Animagus asked him. "Of course not!" Harry replied. "I was picked up from a shack in the middle of no where, dropped in a motel, and then dragged here!" Minerva sighed, and gave him a talk and explanation about the Wizarding World, quite annoyed at her colleague.

"Oh…so you're not evil kidnappers?" Harry asked innocently. "Of course not, who gave you that ridiculous idea?" McGonagall asked him. "Well, I was kidnapped without warning by this creepy person," said Harry reasonably (sort of). He loved being eleven again. He could be impulsive and immature, as much as wanted!

McGonagall sighed again. "No, that was Professor Snape." "He's a professor?" asked Harry incredulously (faking of course). Minerva sighed again (she seemed to be doing that a lot), and led Harry around to the mandatory sites to get supplies. Harry skipped the pet shop, and then Minerva let Harry go, telling him to meet her later at the ice cream shop.

Draco and Luna met him at a small coffee shop at the corner of the street. Harry cast a few wandless silence charms, and sat next to his two friends. "Finally!" they exclaimed at him in unison. "Guess who brought me here this time?" Harry asked them. "Hagrid?" Luna asked. "McGonagall?" Draco questioned. "Well, McGonagall is waiting at the ice cream shop a couple streets down, but no. Snape!" Harry told them.

"Uncle Sev?" Draco exclaimed. "Yeah. He dumped me in this motel after rescuing me from the Dursleys. Then abandoned me as soon as we got into Diagon Alley."

"So, who told you about magic?" Luna asked. "McGonagall." Harry replied. "Anyways, we're finally back!" Harry exclaimed. The blonds smiled. "We've got to go before it gets suspicious." Draco told them. They embraced each other and made plans to sit together on the train then left quickly. Harry, along with the rest of the supplies, was taken to the Dursleys home and left there. He slipped into his room and set the first year supplies at the corner of the room.

Harry fed both Sapphire and Hedwig, and flopped down on his bed. For the next couple of weeks Harry cast a few Muggle-repelling charms on the door, and was left alone. On the day he had to board the train Harry slipped out with a shrunken trunk, two wands, his two familiars, and called the Knight Bus.

The teen traveled to the train station, unshrunk his stuff, and waited around until he was a sea of red-heads. "Come on!" the unmistakable voice of Molly Weasley, yelled. Three redheads got slipped into the wall, and Harry approached them. "Excuse me, but do you know how to get to Platform Nine and ¾?" Just like last time Harry was directed, and he smile. Operation Make Friends with Weasleys was working fine.

He soon saw Fred and George again, when he was struggling to get his trunk on board. "Well, what do we have here, Fred?" Fred asked George. Well if they wanted to play at that, Harry reasoned. Harry brushed the hair from his scar purposely. "Harry Potter!" they exclaimed. "Where!" Harry exclaimed turning his head from side to side in a convincing manner.

"Well, aren't you Harry Potter?" George asked. "No, what gave you that idea?" Harry asked him. "You got the scar and everything!" Fred asked him. "This?" Harry asked. "I was dropped on my head as a baby by my mother." Fred and George winced. "Sorry," they said. "It's okay," Harry told them reassuringly (sort of).

The emerald eyed teen walked onto the train after thanking the twins and snickering quietly the whole time. He found Draco in a compartment, and waved. Luna followed Harry in and they relaxed together after putting locking charms and silencing charms on the door. Everything was going mostly to plan, and they were ready for anything.

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**Okay, I don't like the last few pages a lot, but it'll have to do. Ten pages! Gah, my fingers hurt. The magical trunk idea is a suggestion from ROBERT-19588. Thanks! I gotta go work! Thanks for the encouraging reviews, story alerts, and favorites; this is the best response I've ever gotten to a story. Please review! *Runs away to do homework that should've been done hours ago.* **


	5. Chapter 4

**Hi! Not much to say, the poll results will be at the bottom of the chapter, with a couple more chapters before I close the poll.** **Great thanks to each and every person who reviewed, or added my story to favorites or alerts. This is the most popular story I've ever written, and it make me incredibly happy that there are people reading my story!** **On with the story!**

**Disclaimer: *Checks my Daily Planner* No, Harry Potter is still not mine…unless J.K. Rowling decides to sell it her life's work…**

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Chapter 4

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Harry, Draco, and Luna sat together on the train, all of them tense with anticipation. "So we've all agreed that we should be sorted into Slytherin, and wing it from there?" Harry asked the blonds. "Pretty much," Draco replied with a smirk. Luna nodded, and they all sat back in a compatible silence, Harry grimacing a bit, unnoticed by Luna and Draco.

The time-travelers slipped on their comfortable robes after a while and waited for the train to stop. As the train stopped the three of them got out, and were extremely excited to see Hogwarts again, as well as all their friends. Draco got of the train, and Luna and Harry trailed behind. "Firs' years, Firs' years, over here!" bellow Hagrid loudly. They all smiled in reminiscence, and followed the sound.

Two blonds and a brunet got into the rickety rowboat with Hermione following them. Harry smiled at her as did Luna and Draco. "My name is Hermione Granger, what are yours?" the bushy-haired witch asked. "I'm Draco, Draco Malfoy," said blond introduced himself as. "Luna Lovegood," Luna chimed in. "And Harry Potter," Harry completed. Hermione eyed them with a bit of surprise.

"We're best friends," Luna answered the unasked question. "That's how we know each other so well." Hermione shrugged and peered ahead, trying to get a glimpse of the castle. "Want to be friends?" Harry asked Hermione hopefully. Hermione looked slightly shocked, and then nodded happily. Both blonds smiled at her, seeming much more like twins (with eerily similar expressions and actions from spending years together) then merely friends.

"Duck down!" Hagrid's voice boomed, and the four sitting in the small boat ducked down accordingly. After a turn the familiar and magnificent looking castle came into view, and all present let out a gasp, for different reasons. Hermione let out a gasp and the sheer brilliance of the castle, more than any book could describe or portray. Harry, Draco, and Luna let out a gasp at their second home, whole again. They all smiled brightly, and enjoyed the rest of the boat ride.

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By the time the first years were loaded into the castle, and McGonagall had led them into the Great Hall, everyone who hadn't been previously sorted *ahem*time travelers*ahem* were feeling slightly nauseous and quite nervous. The trio smiled at how nervous they must have looked their first few weeks at Hogwarts, and looked to McGonagall. The Sorting Hat sang the song, and Harry and his two friends all remembered the first time it was sung:

_Oh you may not think me pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me._

You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all. 

_There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be._

You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
if you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folks use any means  
To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap! 

McGonagall started, "Abbott, Hannah!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Boot, Terry!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

That was unexpected. It seemed that the more malicious side of Boot had decided to show earlier.

"Brown, Lavender!"

"GRIYFFINDOR!"

And so this went on. There weren't any changes except Terry until they reached Hermione.

"Granger, Hermione!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

Well, it shouldn't have been that big of a surprise, apparently Harry had influenced her decision quite a bit. Perhaps Ravenclaw wouldn't have been so bad, but it was too late now. The sorting proceeded as expected, until Luna, the first of the trio to be sorted.

"Lovegood, Luna!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

As nobody knew Luna yet, except for Hermione, Harry, and Draco no one made much of a fuss as Harry suspected his sorting would bring. The sorting went on until Draco's turn, Slytherin of course, and then Harry's.

"Potter, Harry!"

A murmur went through the crowd as Harry approached the Sorting Hat, and Luna, Draco, and Hermione all sent him encouraging looks. As he sat down, the Sorting Hat's familiar voice sounded in his head.

_Well, well, well, Harry Potter! I've been waiting for you. _Harry doubted the Hat had any idea how creepy he sounded, like something out of a horror movie. _What do we have here? A time-traveler just like your friends. And I do not sound creepy like one of those boring Muggle horror movies._ Harry grinned despite himself, and the hat chuckled. _Slytherin, too?_ _It seems my other self has suggested Slytherin too. It seems I get my wish._ Silently the hat added to himself, _And you will be taken care of._

"Thank you," Harry thought to the Hat, and the hat smiled eerily. _Horror movie…_Harry thought.

"SLYTHERIN!" yelled out the hat. Half the audience was in shock, the other half in horror. Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore in shock, and Professor Snape in horror. _Potter's spawn, in my house_ Snape thought in horror._ Potter must be turning in his grave!_ Harry rose gracefully, and sat himself down between Luna and Draco. He was chuckling inside at their very interesting expressions.

McGonagall cleared her throat, startling everyone out of their shock, and continued the sorting. Everyone else was sorted into the appropriate houses. The feast was started, and over the scrumptious meal the two eleven-year olds, and the one-ten year old were beaming happily over their food, seemingly oblivious to the stares.

It wasn't until Harry spoke, without turning around that the stares stopped, "You're going to catch flies with your mouths open that big." Most of the people staring looked down sheepishly, though certain ones like Snape's gaze never lowered or wavered.

The newly dubbed snakes were led to the dungeons by the older students and prefects, and the second years and above dismissed. Severus Snape looked over his new silver snakes. Though one he swore was actually a golden Gryffindor. *cough*Potter*cough* He trailed his eyes over the small faces, and sighed.

"You are all Slytherins now. If you only remember one rule, it is Slytherin United. Everyone else is now opposed to you. You will protect each other and support each other outside this room. If you hate your housemate you will do so privately." Snape paced the room, "You shall not lose points without reason, and you are to show a united front against all others." The Slytherin Head of House crossed the Common Room again.

"I will give you all a full physical. You are to come one by one into my office, and I will personally check your health," Snape's eyes softened, "All results are confidential." "Now come," Snape led a first year by the arm and hauled the small boy into a door, a tall Slytherin female Prefect following him. Harry was eying the situation with stunned eyes. He couldn't go in for a physical! This couldn't be happening. This hadn't happened with Gryffindor!

Harry turned to Luna, who shook her head, showing this hadn't happened with Ravenclaw either. The emerald eyed teen turned to Draco and glared. Draco shrugged and told him quietly, "You have nothing to worry about, right? Uncle Sev takes care of his Slytherins." Harry continued glaring. This time around the weeks with the Dursleys were quite uncomfortable. Somehow Vernon had gotten fired, and the family had blamed it on Harry's freakishness.

Harry had a high pain tolerance from the Dursleys and from Voldemort and his Death Eaters. But the thrashing he had gotten was bothering him immensely though he tried not to show it. He couldn't let his friends see, though he thought that Draco had suspected. Harry underplayed the Dursleys' treatment of him, and he was now paying the price. And now there was only Draco, Luna, himself, and Blaise Zabini left. He was in trouble.

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Draco knew he was taking a big risk, not telling Harry about the physical that his godfather gave all new Slytherins, but he knew something was not right with Harry and his relatives. Only the Slytherins gave the physical, because Severus had been beaten by his father as a child, and wouldn't wish that past on anyone, even his worst enemy's son.

The blond Slytherin hoped everything would be all right, and Luna walked into Snape's office, the female Prefect checking the girl over for any signs of injury or illness after Snape cast a diagnosis spell, just in case the spell was blocked or overlooked something. Now only Harry and Draco were left, and Draco pushed Harry insistently forward. The Prefect lifted an eyebrow, but grabbed Harry by the arm and persistently tugged him in. And despite the fact that Harry was mentally older than the girl, he still had the weak body of an eleven year old malnourished boy.

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"Sit down, Potter," the Potions Master ordered. Harry was forcibly stuck into a chair, and now found the professor's scrutinizing gaze on himself. "No doubt you find no need in this, being a pampered brat, but I am obligated to do this." Harry knew that the obligation was to the Potions Master himself, as none of the other Houses did this physical. But then abused children seemed to be placed into this house a lot. The ambition of getting back at their abusers was a trait of Slytherins. Harry himself was almost sorted into Slytherin last time.

The Prefect touched his shoulder, and Harry flinched slightly involuntarily. To the untrained eye it would have been near invisible, but Severus had seen more than his fair share of beautifully hidden cases. But it couldn't be right. The pampered Boy-Who-Lived (what a ridiculous title!) would have been treated like a prince, and not like a servant or slave, right? "You may go, Rebecca," Snape dismissed the Prefect. Rebecca nodded, and left silently. Severus took a small breath, and plunged into what was sure to be an unpleasant conversation.

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Harry hated Draco right now. How could he purposely not tell Harry that there was a physical for Slytherins? He could have initiated a powerful unbreakable glamour, or something! The teen felt he would be mercilessly teased and insulted by the Slytherin Head of House. After all, he did nothing but be his father's son in the last timeline, and was mercilessly picked on.

"Take off your robes and shirt," Professor Snape commanded. Harry stared at him defiantly, and Snape continued, "Or I'll spell them off," the Potions Professor threatened. Harry glared then turned around and attempted to cast a wandless glamour over his wounds. Obviously it this hadn't failed to attract Snape's notice and Snape grasped Harry's arms and tied him to the chair. Though the ropes weren't as rough as they could have been.

The lone Potter's shirt was pulled of with surprisingly gentle hands and the weak glamours removed though Snape raised an eyebrow at even that small amount of magic. Glamours, however weak, were only taught in late first year at the earliest or sometime during second year. Harry closed his eyes and mentally cursed Draco again.

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Severus Snape was a very reserved man. After years of being a spy, he had to be. But as he saw the small child, Potter's spawn, (and Lily's child, an insistent voice in his head protested) quivering slightly before raising his chin and closing his eyes he was feeling quite uncertain at what would happen next. Then he almost, almost, gasped allowed. Over the child's back were welts and bruises, as well as over the front of his chest. There were hand prints on his neck, and overall Potter was in bad shape.

Snape cast the diagnosis charm, and stared unbelievingly at the results. The number of bones broken at this age was atrocious! And the majority not healed properly. Bruises, welts, all over his body. This was the worst case he had seen in a long time, as magical children were usually precious to their parents and even purebloods treasured their heirs. Severus closed his eyes a little, and then hardened them.

He reached for the appropriate potions, and then handed them to Po-Harry. The raven haired boy downed the potions without hesitation and handed the empty vials back wordlessly. Harry stared down at the floor unmoving, and feeling quite ashamed. No one had ever seen the full extents of his injuries, and here was the professor that despised him the most, helping him.

Harry felt bewildered and a bit afraid, despite his age. He felt vulnerable, and scared. The small boy continued inspecting the dungeon floor. "Drink this before each meal," Snape continued, handing Harry a nourishment replenishing potion. "Get someone to rub this into your wounds before bed." His Potions Professor handed him another bottle, this one filled with a clear salve. "You may go," Snape told him, and Harry swept out of the room quickly, still cursing Draco Lucius Malfoy the whole way out.

Harry brushed past Draco, who sighed and walked into the room for his own physical. Harry grabbed his stuff and took a quick shower, then dropped onto his silver and green bunk. There were only two left, one for Harry and one for Draco side by side. Harry lowered himself onto the covers and sighed. He knew Draco had done what he thought was best for Harry, but that didn't stop the shame Harry felt.

He buried his face into the soft green pillow and silver covers, and cried for the first time in a long while, after casting silencing spells to prevent his new roommates from hearing anything.

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Draco felt horrible. He knew that he should've told his friends, but he knew Harry would have never agreed had he known. He dropped onto his own bunk after a quick physical with a shell-shocked Snape, and cast the appropriate silencing charms himself. He hoped that Harry would forgive him some day, for doing what he thought was best.

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Luna was having a great time. After a fabulous summer with her father, she was now a Slytherin. No longer teased for being Looney Luna, and was now accepted. The girls had tolerated her presence just as they tolerated everyone else's. She couldn't wait for the year to pick up, and her only concern was Harry and Draco. But they never could stay mad at each other for long, after all they'd been through together.

Everything was going to be all right this time.

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**Gah, finally done! Only eight pages, and relatively short, but a fast update. Expect the next one about Friday. The physical for Slytherins idea is partly from another author that I have forgotten the name of. If anyone remembers and tells me if they've seen anything similar, I will check it out and change it. The last time I've checked Draco/Luna and Harry/Hermione were in the lead for the pairings. I hope you all liked the chapter, and thanks for everyone who is reading my story! Please review!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Finally Friday! I can relax, so I decided to write a chapter for all my readers out there. So, here's the chapter:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter…so sad.**

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Harry wasn't in a very good mood. Despite the fact that his various injuries no longer hurt, he felt heavily betrayed by one of his closest friends. It was for your own good, a small voice of reason in the back of his head told himself. But it still hurt. Not as much as last night, but the mere thought of it brought a pang to his heart.

He dressed quickly in his Hogwarts uniform consisting of new green and silver garments. Harry slipped out of the first year boys' dorm and traveled down to the Common Room. It was still relatively empty, save a figure sitting on a couch. A blonde, with silver eyes. Luna turned around and gestured for her long time friend to sit next to her. Harry sat, and Luna clasped Harry comfortingly to her chest in a sisterly way.

Harry let tears fall silently, and Luna patted him on the back. "He didn't hurt you on purpose you know? He just wanted you to be safe," she comforted him. Harry nodded silently, and whispered to his friend, "I know. But it still hurts." "And I'm sorry for that. Deeply sorry," replied a voice from the dorm stairs. Harry glanced up in shock, and then sighed. "I know you didn't mean it, but it hurt," Harry told Draco. Draco came and hugged Harry to the blond too; it was a familiar gesture from all the comforting Draco and Luna had done for Harry after the war.

The lone brunet of the group smiled slightly and told his blond companion, "I forgive you. Just don't ever do that again." Draco nodded in agreement and Luna beamed. "Now let's go to breakfast," Luna told them. She led the two males to the Great Hall, and they were the first ones to breakfast. They all ate a familiar Hogwarts breakfast with Luna chiding Harry for taking too many treacle tarts and not enough fruit. Harry smiled indulgently and piled more fruit on his plate.

They were the first ones to finish breakfast, and only a few early risers had even started their breakfast. The time-travelers visited the library and read tomes until it was time for their first class, Transfiguration. Harry was excited to see Minerva McGonagall, resident Transfiguration Professor again. The cat Animagus had fallen during the final battle protecting a group of first years from invading attackers. Harry also really loved Transfiguration, and had a particular skill at it, just like Luna with Charms and Draco and himself with Potions.

Two blonds and a brunet walked down the familiar route to the Transfiguration classroom together, and calmly sank down gracefully into chairs. Harry smiled slightly at the cat in remembrance, which Minerva thought was eerie. After a boring class, (transfiguring matches into needles AGAIN!) in which Harry had taken to decorating the matches with patterns they left together to go to Double Potions. Harry was not looking forward to this, though he was really good at Potions, and respected the Potions Master.

After last night's episode, combined with the fact that Severus Snape had never liked him in the first place, made a very nervous and tense Harry. His two blond companions tried to relax him as much as possible, but so far it wasn't helping very much. The emerald eyed boy sat through a tense Potions session, and though Harry didn't mess up he didn't perform as well as he could have. Snape had not viciously berated Harry this time, but Harry was sure that it was contributed to the fact that he was now a Slytherin, and the Slytherin motto: Slytherin United.

Breathing a sigh of relief as he walked out the door with his friends to lunch, he smiled. Everything was going fine! Then he thought of Double Defense, which was to be tomorrow. And of Ron and Hermione and all his Gryffindor friends. His smile faded slightly, and he stalked off to lunch Draco and Luna trailing behind him. Lunch was delicious as always, and eaten hastily. Harry asked his friends for some time alone, and headed off to the library. There in the corner, in Hermione's original favorite spot, was none other than Hermione Granger.

Harry grabbed a tome about Potions and pulled up a seat next to the brown-haired bookworm of a Ravenclaw. He whispered quietly to Hermione, "Do you mind if I sit here?" Hermione started, so absorbed in her book that she hadn't noticed Harry's approach. She nodded happily at her new friend, and smiled before returning to her book. Harry was glad at the small bonding time that he had spent with Hermione and read his book enthusiastically; oblivious to the weird glances Madam Pince was giving him. As his simple book about Potions was actually a seventh year advanced curriculum tome.

Hogwarts' librarian shrugged, and went back to filing the books and glaring at those speaking too loudly. Harry finished his book before it was time for Herbology with Professor Sprout, and bid Hermione goodbye, scheduling another study session with her two days later. The emerald eyed child met up with his fellow time travelers and together they stepped into the classroom. The assignment was relatively simple, and the class was with Gryffindors. Harry remembered Neville, and approached him asking if they could work together, as Draco and Luna teamed up at Harry's nod of approval.

The shy boy stuttered around the seemingly mysterious Slytherin, but gradually warmed up and started contributing to the project. At the end they smiled at each other as Professor Sprout praised their work, and Neville was now incrediably happy he had made a friend. Harry was also happy that he had regained a friend.

Luna and Draco met up with him in the Common Room, and they silently agreed to go find the Room of Requirement. Harry disappeared for a moment to drink his nourishment potions and to rub the cool salve into his wounds. Where he could not reach he had to ask Draco to help him. He did so shamefully casting his eyes down until Luna grasped his chin and stared into his emerald green eyes. "This isn't your fault," she told him incrediably firmly. Harry nodded but still looked to the floor wincing a bit as Draco touched a particularly sensitive spot. Draco apologized, and flinched a little at the deepness of the wounds. Both silver-eyed blonds vowed to themselves that they would get Harry out of his despicable relatives house as soon as possible.

The trio slipped away to the hallway that the Room of Requirement was in, and Luna asked the room to show as Potter Manor's living room, where the three had resided in and couldn't wait to go back to. Harry flopped himself down on the familiar couch, and smiled happily. Draco and Luna sank themselves down into a chaise lounge more slowly and gracefully, but both lay down all the same.

"So, what do you think of everything?" Harry asked his friends. "I think that everything is going well enough, and the only problem might be Quirrel and the Philosopher's Stone." Draco commented. "What he said," Luna put in, "but Professor Snape does seem less hostile." "That's probably because I'm a Slytherin," Harry protested. Draco knew that that wasn't the main reason, but it was his godfather's secret to tell.

They chatted on mundanely, but cheerfully. "What about Quidditch?" Draco asked Harry. Neither really loved the game itself, but both loved the thrill and exhilarating feel that came with a broom ride. "Let's just let it play out," Harry suggested. "Either way we can always use this room to fly." Draco nodded, and they continued talking. Soon it was time for dinner, and the teens all showed up just in time for a feast prepared by the house elves.

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The next day, bright and early, the first class was flying with Madam Hooch. Harry, Draco, and Luna were in the sky, and Harry noticed that everyone seemed okay on a broom, even Neville and Hermione. Then chaos erupted. Ron had accidently been pushed of his broom by a racing Seamus. He tumbled down and Harry seeing that, dove without thinking and grabbed Ron's arm. He pulled of a perfect Wronski Feint, and saved the redhead from a painful fate. The raven haired boy landed softly on the floor, and a very frantic Rolanda Hooch raced towards them.

She immediately sent Ron to Madam Poppy Pomfrey herself, but not before Ron reluctantly but sincerely sent a look of thanks to the Slytherin. Harry nodded in response, and Ron was whisked away. Luna and Draco landed by Harry, and checked him over for injuries. Just then Madam Hooch returned. "How did you pull that off? A perfect Wronski feint! I haven't seen anyone ever do it on their first try, not even Charlie Weasley, and he was a brilliant seeker!" Harry just smiled, and nodded. "I have to put you on the Slytherin team! It wouldn't be fair to not!" Well that wasn't expected. Harry exchanged a glance with Draco and decided something. "Can Draco tryout for the team too?" he asked. "After all, you're making an exception for me."

Rolanda Hooch eyed Draco then told Harry, "If he can make it, it's fine. But he'll have to compete with those older than him." Draco smiled widely at Harry and nodded to Madam Hooch. "I'll do that." Luna grinned at both her friends, knowing that both were aching to get on a broom. And so both children made the Slytherin Quidditch team, as chaser and seeker, after impressing even Marcus Flint, the current Quidditch captain.

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And so life went on peacefully and quickly. The only hitch was the worry that hovered over the trio from Quirrel, the Philosopher's Stone, and Voldemort. Harry's first defense class was torture. The teacher's closeness caused his scar to almost constantly throb and by the time Harry had gotten to his Common Room his scar was bleeding freely. Draco and Luna had waited for him in the Common Room as, regrettably, Defense Against the Dark Arts was the only class the three had not shared. It almost seemed as it fate was against them, and the worst class was the only one they did not share.

Luna tended to Harry, and stuck a bandage on his forehead, and glamoured it. Harry smiled at Luna thankfully, and followed Draco up the stairs to the dorm the boys shared. They all sat on the bunk that Harry slept on, and pulled the curtains shut. It was a bit cramped, so Draco cast a space enlargement charm, and a strong silencing charm.

Harry nodded appreciatively and sank into the soft warmth of his bed covers and pillow. "Bad class with Quirrel?" Draco question softly. Harry sighed, "Yeah. It's almost Halloween, what are we going to do about troll incident?" "Get Hermione out for one, and the rest a well placed Stupefy would disarm the troll." Luna commented. "And Sirius," Harry reminded them. "We have to get Pettigrew, and somehow free Sirius."

The blonds nodded in agreement, and it was so simultaneously that it was mildly disturbing to one that hadn't know the three lived together for many months. It was late, and the three of them returned to their beds to rest. Halloween was coming up, and all of them needed their strength for that ordeal.

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The night of the Halloween feast Harry planned a study session with Hermione. They studied right up to the feast and Harry even walked her to the Gryffindor table, ensuring that she would not be trapped by the troll this time. When Quirrel slipped away Draco, Harry, and Luna followed him stealthily, with years of practice. The possessed man did not see the three of them, and was seen letting out a troll. Harry cast a Stupefy after the evil Defense teacher walked back to the feast, most likely to announce the troll in the dungeons. The troll fell like a rock, and Draco and Luna smiled in unison.

Three Slytherins were later found after the Halloween scare in the library, reading tomes and finishing up homework that was due tomorrow. No one had a reason to suspect the Slytherins, except for a certain Head of House who was sure he had seen the homework all done in the Common Room. He would keep his suspicions to himself until he had proof before he confronted his little snakes. The Slytherins, though extremely smart, were not enough for the spy, and was oblivious to the exchange.

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Life went on, a friendship growing with Hermione and Neville, and a tentative truce between Ron and Harry. Christmas came around, and Draco and Harry opted to stay at Hogwarts. Luna would go home to her father, but come back a few weeks early. During the time Harry and Draco spent together they explored the castle, and discussed various things. The Weasleys were also at the castle, and Harry was met by the twins one day. It began while Harry was running around the castle, just wandering, and bumped into Fred.

Fred looked him over, and stated accusingly, "You said you weren't Harry Potter," George finished, "and you lied!" They clasped their hands to their chests in the perfect act of innocence and sorrow. Harry inwardly smirked, "Of course I'm not! The weird Wizarding World got my name wrong. My real name is Colin Creevey. And did you know that I was kidnapped! Right out of my own comfortable home and dragged into Diagon Alley and abandoned there by the vampire that's now my Potions Professor. He's a kidnapper!"

"And why," Fred asked,

"should we believe you?" George finished.

"Because I have proof," Harry replied solemnly. "Here is my birth certificate," here Harry conjured up a fake I.D. with his photo and Colin Creevey's name inside his cloak and whipped it out, "and here is a photo of me being kidnapped that a bystander took." The twins shared a identical smirk at the picture of a innocent and small looking Harry being dragged by the intimidating Potions Professor, and a tape recording of Harry freaking out by Professor McGonagall.

Harry smiled inwardly, and offered, "I'll make an interview, and you can send it to the Daily Prophet?" Just because he never liked the Daily Prophet didn't mean that he couldn't benefit from it. The twins smirked, and nodded firmly. "Of course, Colin," and the rest of the evening was spent gathering information about the supposed kidnapping.

Harry grinned, sure that with the Weasley twins' efforts this would be front page news on the Daily Prophet tomorrow. This was a wonderful day. He arrived in his dorm with a wicked grin on his face, and Draco eyed him suspiciously, and then told Harry, "I really don't want to know." "Oh, but you will, and so will everyone else by tomorrow's breakfast." Harry smiled eerily. Draco shuddered slightly then pulled his curtains shut quickly. Oh, this was a very satisfying Christmas indeed.

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The next morning at breakfast the Daily Prophet was sent out all over England, and even some out of the country. Many copies were framed and treasured for the rest of the owners' lives, and often were used to tell stories to the younger generation of an evil Potions Professor. Over breakfast Draco groaned at the headline of his newspaper: **Evil Potions Professor Kidnapping Students? Headmaster Allowing Such Behavior?** After scanning the paper it pretty much gave an overview of what Fred, George, and Harry had discussed the night before.

A aforementioned Potions Professor, Severus Snape was glaring fiercely at the innocent looking Potter. This had to be his work. No one else knew about the expedition to retrieve Potter, and Minerva had been on his neck about how it seemed as if Potter had the absurd idea that Severus was a kidnapper out for Harry's blood.

The student was certainly Slytherin enough for this, and this article would be preserved and literally put in a museum by all those students that he had called dunderheads and berated over the years. This was, unfortunately for him, quite a lot.

He silently cursed the youngest Potter, and the Weasley twins, for they were grinning ear to ear and smirking deviously, quite un-Gryffindor-like. They were going to pay…sooner or later. But he couldn't take points from Slytherin, or randomly assign detentions. Still, either way the three of them were going to pay. And why in the world was his godson sitting there with a look of tolerance and indulgence on his face?

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Hogwarts' students' winter break went smoothly and merrily, and on Christmas Eve owls were sent to Harry and Draco from Luna, and gifts from Luna to her male companions. Harry had given Draco a deluxe potions kit with personalized potions made by Harry himself and rare ingredients. It had taken him a while, and a lot of time to get the rare ingredients but it was well worth it. Draco was also given a bracelet, cast with protection charms and decorated in Slytherin colors.

For Luna Harry had gotten Charms that he had spent hours digging up from rare tomes in the restricted section (not that he actually should have been in there, but when as that every stopped Harry Potter?) during the night with his invisibility cloak and a bracelet that had belonged to the Potter family and had many protection charms, with a pattern that matched Draco's ring.

Draco had given Harry an entire album of his parents' pictures, and taken the time to organize it into a neat and personalized order. He was also given a few rare tomes on potions. Luna was given a book on household charms, and a necklace that was bought secretly on a secret trip to Hogsmeade also loaded with protection charms.

Luna had sent with her owl her own gifts for Harry and Draco. Draco received a beautiful cloak made of green acromantula silk and embroidered with silver that she had done herself. The materials were somewhat expensive, but where from the amount of money that Harry had given her to use despite her endless protests.

Harry was hard to decide for. What would he really appreciate? Luna finally decided that Harry would most appreciate something she had but time into, and sent him a matching cloak to Draco's except with blue acromantula silk and gold (for his past house).

Harry also recieved a book from Hermione, about Potions since every time they had gone to the library together Harry had a book about Potions open. Draco and Luna each recieved a box of chocolate frogs from Hermione. Fred and George had sent candy to all three of them (asking Harry and Draco to send some to Luna), but they had been too cautious to eat it without a few detection charms. Harry had gotten his father's Invisibility cloak from this time period, and Harry was glad that the trio wouldn't have to all cram into one from their future adventures. Neville had also sent the trio some candy, and a books on Herbology. Hagrid had even sent them all rock cakes (which they didn't eat...).

The trio had a wonderful Christmas, and Luna returned to Hogwarts early. That night they planned a huge occasion. The capture of Peter Pettigrew, and the freedom of one Sirius Black. It was decided that Luna would cast the charms that would keep Harry hidden and silent. Harry would stealthily slip and steal Wormtail, after dosing his food with a potion that Harry and Draco had but their combined efforts.

Harry would wait until someone got into the Gryffindor tower, and then steal a drugged Pettigrew. Then they would figure out what to do from there. The plan was carried out and though there was a close call as Percy Weasley stared suspiciously at the spot where Harry was hidden, but in the end Harry got out safely and successfully. They decided to have Luna burst into Dumbledore's office crying of Wargals warning her that Pettigrew was an illegal Animagus that was spying on Luna in the shower.

If Harry knew Dumbledore well enough, he would cast the Animagus revealing charm to reassure Luna that nothing was wrong, and there would be Pettigrew! Harry was sure that that was what Dumbledore would do, and then this would be solved, and Sirius out of prison. Harry even had a copy of his parents' will, stating that Harry was under no circumstances to live with the Dursleys. Then they would try their best to get Draco out of his miserable household.

Luna agreed to the plan, and it was carried out. Everything went perfectly and the usually taciturn Dumbledore was very shocked at his assumed dead student. Luna grimly told Dumbledore that the 'Wargals' had told her that he was a traitor, and had to be questioned using Veritaserum. Since Luna had been right so far, Dumbledore called Snape and asked him to administer a small amount of Veritaserum. Severus was shocked to see Pettigrew, and was suspicious as to why one of the trio was involved in this again.

And it was impossible that a Slytherin would be enticed by 'Wargals or Wracklespurts.' Nonetheless, Luna was proven right, Pettigrew a traitor and Black was freed. Peter was given life in Azkaban, and got of lightly. Sirius was brought to St. Mungo's and was residing there until he got better. Step one of Operation Save Harry was complete.

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The year went on (with Quidditch games, pranks with the Weasley twins, growing friendships, and a minimal amount of studying and homework), and the trio growing tenser with the end of year finals and the even bigger event of Voldemort's return and the Philosopher's Stone dilemma. Harry, Draco, and Luna didn't have to study, besides skimming the textbooks, and this did not go unnoticed by a certain professor who had been keeping an eye on them.

They had decided to switch the real Philosopher's Stone with a realistic fake, so that Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel wouldn't have to die this time. All three children wanted to prevent as many deaths as possible, and thought that saving the Flamels would be a good start. Harry got past the test easily this time, knowing what to expect. And it helped having the mind of an adult.

The Stone was successfully switched, and Harry waited anxiously with his friends for the end of the school year that Voldemort would return. That night all three had a hard time sleeping, and slept together in the Common Room with blankets. Some looked at the trio weirdly, but most knew that the three were very close, and just ignored their presence. One, Severus Snape, kept on taking notes and filing them away in his head for future reference. Things were speeding up, and the trio was ready this time.

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**Ten pages! Short, but an acceptable length for me. I try to hit ten pages per chapter. The leading pairings are now Harry/Luna and Draco/Astoria. Although I don't know a lot about Astoria, and I would appreciate it if you want Astoria in the story to send me a character view. Like her full name, house, personality, stuff like that. I would like to thank all who are reading, reviewing, alerting, and favoriting my stories! Love you guys! Please continue! =)**

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	7. Chapter 6

**I'm starting on this chapter, but I don't know when I can finish and post it. Anyways, thanks to all those who read, favorited, alerted, reviewed, and added my story to their communities! Great thanks!**

**Disclaimer: You know if I didn't own Harry Potter for the past several chapters, what makes you think I suddenly now own it?...sigh, I do not own Harry Potter.**

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The day that Quirrel would steal the Stone was coming up quickly, and the trio was all incredibly tense. A tap on the shoulder would make them jump out of their seats, and quite possibly have you at the end of their wands. The bad end. The end where you probably would get vaporized if you moved. Not pleasant.

Finally, the day came, and that night Luna brought her flute with her. They slipped under invisibility cloaks, Draco with Harry and Luna alone. The two blonds and lone brunet slipped quietly into to corridor where Fluffy was held, and silently Draco Alohomora-ed the door open. Harry placed a silencing charm on the door, and Luna began playing her flute quietly. Both boys smiled at the melody, a familiar song that Luna played when either was overwhelmed or sad.

Luna continued playing, notes singing through the air, until the Cerberus laid his head down on the floor, and the trio walked quickly past. They jumped into the trapdoor and landed on the Devil's Snare. The three of them all looked pretty uncomfortable, and Luna had to cast an Incendio to get the plant to let them go. The second looked door was not able to be opened with a simple Alohomora, because of special precautions.

At the sight of the keys Harry and Draco sported identical grins. "Race?" Draco asked. "Sure!" Harry replied, and both took off, grabbing the brooms on the floor. Luna rolled her eyes at their foolishness right before facing one of the most evil people in history, but understood that this was their way of dealing, by bantering and kidding around. She waited until one of them dropped to the floor with the key. Harry won, but it was really close. Still, Draco was pouting slightly, put out with losing.

Luna took the key from the raven-haired boy, and unlocked the door. There was a troll, but like last time it was on the floor and unconscious, which helped a lot. The chess game wasn't exactly perfect, but with Harry and Draco working together as strategists they got past without injury.

The next part would be the hardest. Only one could go, and the others would have to wait in the chamber with Fluffy, with Luna playing her flute. Luna obviously couldn't go, and Harry insisted that Draco stay with her. Harry forced them to concede to him going on alone, though it took quite a lot of persuading. To be honest, Harry wasn't feeling a lot of Gryffindor bravery right now, and more Slytherin self-preservation that was yelling at him to run. But he knew what he had to do, so he downed the smallest potion.

Luna and Draco each downed half of the potion that would return them to Fluffy's chamber and Luna started playing a song again, which the boys had teasingly named Luna's Lullaby. When she stopped to take a breath Draco sang, in a mildly off-key tone that made Luna smile between her breaths. Harry had once commented that he wanted to record that, and play it over dinner in the Great Hall. Maybe he should…It'd make good entertainment, and he hadn't planned a prank with Fred and George in a while…But, wait, evil death-loving Dark Lord in the next room.

Harry took a deep breath and walked through the flames. On the other side was Voldemort (or as some called him, You-Know-Who, or the really big mouthful, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, both of which Harry thought was really stupid) sticking out of Quirrel's head, in all his ugly glory. The Boy-Who-Lived (also what Harry thought was a stupid name) shot a Stupefy at Quirrel/Voldemort, which was blocked by a Protego.

Harry cursed under his breath, he didn't want to be seen or felt. He must have been neglecting his training. He didn't remember that he was physically an eleven year old boy, and therefore still very tiny. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" an evil sounding voice drawled out. "Master, are you sure you want to reveal yourself? You are still not fully strengthened," Quirrel whimpered out. "Of course, you fool! Do you doubt me?" Voldemort asked threateningly.

"Of course not, my Lord!" Quirrel stuttered. Quirrel unwrapped his turban, and Harry shuddered slightly at the sight of Voldemort's blood red eyes. Harry shot a disarming spell which Quirrel/Voldemort quickly blocked. Quirrel/Voldemort shot a Crucio, which Harry dodged swiftly. The Crucio was followed by an Avada Kedavra, which Harry dodged with a small wince at the green light. This continued for a while, and Harry was getting more and more exhausted. Of course, the same went for Voldemort, but Harry didn't notice that.

The emerald eyed boy shot a Patronus, which in the form of Prongs, charged and butted Voldemort in the leg. He toppled over, courtesy of Quirrel's weak body, and Harry remembered Lily Evan Potter's blood protection. It took him a while, but you can't really blame him with the most evil Dark Lord of the century firing spells at him in a rapid fire pace. He stuck his hand onto the self-proclaimed, evil Dark Lord's (Harry rolled his eyes, after the battle, remembering the ridiculous name) face and Voldemort screamed in pain.

Harry grabbed his wand and slipped out. All was peaceful, until he reached the chamber with the keys. He heard an ear-piercing scream. No! He'd recognize the scream anywhere and never wanted to hear it again. Luna! He raced into Fluffy's chamber, to see Draco Malfoy lifted up into the air by one of Fluffy's paws, and Luna on the floor looking decisively pale.

Luna looked disheveled, and Harry immediately shot a Stupefy at the Cerberus, and levitated Draco's shivering form to the floor. A warming charm was cast, and Harry conjured up blankets to both of blonds. He picked up Luna's flute (and folded a shrunken flute into his robes), knowing it held sentimental value to her. He did a few simple healing spells on Draco (from rough handling from Fluffy) and Luna (from an impact on the stone floor, not that Harry knew that) and levitated both out the door and to the Hospital Wing. He knew that he would have a hard time explaining this but the health of both silver-eyed blonds was more important to him.

He knew that both were close to hyperventilating, and it was extremely good that he had a calm head under pressure. Harry settled both into different beds (thankfully the Hospital Wing was empty, and there was a light under the door to Madam Pomfrey's office), and cast sleeping charms on them. Harry walked to Poppy Pomfrey's office, and knocked politely on the door.

Poppy opened the door, interrupted from studying documents, and was shocked at the sight of a disheveled Harry Potter. "Mr. Potter, what are you doing at the hospital wing at this time of the night?" "I'm sorry to bother you, but my friends are injured and need help," Harry replied. Madam Pomfrey raised an eyebrow, but followed Harry wondering what he'd done now. At the sight of Luna and Draco lying motionlessly on the beds she bustled forward. After an inspection and several potions, she proclaimed them both fine, except for tiredness.

"What in the world were you doing that exhausted them so badly?" the Healer asked. "Not now," Harry protested, before falling to the floor in a dead faint. Poppy gasped in shock, and grabbed Harry before he crumpled to the floor. She fire-called Severus Snape, resident Potions Master, and the supplier of Potions to the Hospital Wing, for help. Snape came, grumpy from being risen at this hour, and frowned at the sight of three of his most troublesome Slytherins in hospital beds.

"What happened?" he inquired of Madam Pomfrey. "I don't know," she gestured helplessly, "Harry here knocked at the door to my office, and explained that his friends were hurt. I checked them over and it just seems to be slight magical exhaustion as well as physical pressure. Then, when I asked him to explain he fell to the ground in a faint. I figured you would want to know that three Slytherins were in the Hospital Wing at three in the morning."

"Of course I would!" exclaimed Severus indignantly, and walked over to them. He looked over them himself, and found that Madam Pomfrey was right, and Luna and Draco were just exhausted. Harry had depleted his core to almost zero, and would require several weeks of bed rest. "I'll look over them," he told Poppy, and sat down in a hospital chair transformed comfy armchair.

Poppy nodded and left. Severus was the only Head of House that required Poppy to tell him when one of his students was injured. He might not act like it, but she knew that they students would be the safest under Severus's guard, and that she could trust him. After all, she had been a Healer at Hogwarts for many years, and was even there when Severus himself was a first year. She hoped the kids would be all right, and that she could ask them what happened.

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(Before Harry heard Luna scream)

Luna was playing the song for the fifth time, and paused to take a breath. Unfortunately, Fluffy chose then to turn over, and almost crushed Luna under his massive body. Draco tackled Luna neatly and pushed her out of the way. Fluffy woke up from the lack of music or singing, and grabbed the nearest thing. Which just happened to be a frazzled Draco.

Luna regained her senses and screamed. Loudly. She stared in shock and felt her body growing cold, and her breaths speeding up. This wasn't good, not good at all. Luna saw Harry racing into the room, Fluffy falling, Draco being levitated to the floor, warmth, blankets, and then a wand pointed at her. She trusted Harry and willingly succumbed to the darkness that came with the spell. She would find out what happened when she woke up.

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Severus Snape was no fool. Dangerous situations out of nowhere, suspicious behavior, and all evidence pointing to his godson and two of his snakes. Despite the fact that one of the snakes was Potter. He slipped quietly to Harry's side, and took his wand gently. He cast Prior Incantato on the wand, and found several spells that a first year shouldn't know the names of, yet along be able to cast. These included his own Sectumsempra, which he was sure that he hadn't taught many. None of those which he taught would teach Harry Potter. Something fishy was going on, and he was going to figure out what if it was the last thing he did.

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Draco was the first to wake out of the trio, and he woke to find himself in a hospital bed, and his godfather in a chair, asleep to his right. To his left were his best friends. Had it gone wrong again? Harry normally would never be caught in a hospital unless he went through something that most would consider fatal. Then he remembered. Luna, Fluffy, Harry rushing in.

He smiled ruefully at his Gryffindor-ish behavior, running into a fight and not thinking of a simple Stupefy. But wait. They were in the Hospital Wing, which meant that they would have to explain why they were in this position in the first place. This was bad. But he trusted Harry's judgment and fell into a resting sleep again.

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Luna woke next, when the sun was on the horizon, signifying morning had come. She groaned softly peering at her friends each lying on a bed. Her memories came rushing, Draco, Harry! Then she noticed the tall man, her current Head of House standing to this side of her bed, an unoccupied armchair beside him.

"Ms. Lovegood, how good of you to join us," Severus Snape drawled out. "It seems you and your friends have depleted your magical cores and exhausted yourselves. When your friends join you in consciousness you _will_ be explaining yourselves." Luna nodded and sighed slightly, then lied back down again.

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By the time Harry had woken both his blond companions were sitting in bed and reading books. "Good, you're all up," Snape said. He pulled the curtains surrounded the beds closed, and cast several warding and privacy charms. "Would you please explain what you've all been doing at three in the morning that could possibly deplete your magical cores, Mr. Potter's almost to zero?" Despite the way the sentence was phrased they all realized it wasn't a request but a demand.

The trio glanced at each other nervously, and Harry felt discretely for his wand. But apparently Severus had not been a spy for nothing, and had removed Harry's wand. "It also seems that you know Sectumsempra, which I am sure I did _not_teach to you," Snape continued. Harry started. "You checked my wand!" Snape ignored him. "Why is it that every time something major happens, I find three of my snakes in it?"

Harry looked between Luna and Draco and gestured for Draco to start talking. "Everything?" Draco asked Harry. "Everything." Harry nodded firmly. And so Draco launched into a detailed explanation (with everything except the recent fight with Voldemort) that left Snape breathless and dazed, and Luna and Harry added occasionally. By the end of the explanation Severus was looking quite pale, and Harry smiled softly at his Potions Professor confused and speechless despite the seriousness of the situation.

"So let me get this straight," Severus started, "you bunch are all time-travelers from a period where everyone got slaughtered and came back." Snape started laughing, startling all three students. "How stupid do you think I am?" Harry sighed, and then produced a picture from a pocket from his robes. In the picture were all his friends from the time period at fifteen. Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Luna, Draco, and even Severus himself were on the picture as well as numerous others.

Luna took out a photo of herself and her father, a few months before he was murdered and Draco took out a picture of himself and Severus. "Proof enough?" Draco asked. "I also know that you're the Half-Blood Prince, hated my father and the Marauders, almost got impaled by Remus Lupin in the Shrieking Shack, and loved my mother but accidentally called her a mudblood in a fit of anger."

Severus gasped, "How do you know that?" "You told me some of it, and some of it I found out," Harry replied. "You can Legilimens me if you really want." Severus sighed again and asked Draco, "You sure this is right, Draco, and this isn't some elaborate prank?" Draco shook his head solemnly, and Severus sighed AGAIN!

"I believe you," Snape said at last. "Why else would you have so much evidence? Besides it's either this or I ship the lot of you all off to St. Mungo's." They all smiled slightly at the thought, and Harry yawned. "Into bed, Harry, and no more magic for at least two weeks," chided Luna. "After fighting, and levitating us here you used way too much magic." "Wait, wait, wait," Snape said, "what fighting?"

Harry groaned, and sighed. "Nothing?" he asked hopefully. Severus glared at him, and Harry knew he had no choice. "Um, remember the part about fighting Voldemort in first year?" Severus nodded cautiously, and Harry continued, "Well, he was supposed to attack yesterday, and I went with Draco and Luna to try and stop him." He chuckled nervously. "Everything went well until Fluffy," at Snape's raised eyebrow he clarified, "Hagrid's Cerberus, attacked Luna and Draco." "Wait up, the remains of Quirrel and the spirit of Voldemort are flying around somewhere in the chamber where the Philosopher's Stone was held?" "Yep," Harry smiled cheekily. Snape muttered a curse word better left unsaid, and ran out.

Luna and Draco smiled sheepishly and Luna told Harry, "Go to sleep!" "Yes, Mother," Harry replied cheekily, and turned over and drifted off to sleep.

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Luna had apologized profusely afterwards, about almost injuring Draco, but both assured her that it was in no means her fault, and just an accident. "Besides," Harry said wryly, "don't either of you remember how badly I was injured last time?" Luna and Draco smiled, and though Luna still felt a bit guilty the accident was dismissed.

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And so the trio gained an unexpected ally in Severus Snape. They passed their finals with flying colors despite the lack of real studying, and their first year was soon over. Harry dreaded going back to the Dursleys, but Snape was denied anything by Dumbledore, something about lack of proof (despite Snape's Pensieve Memories) and Blood Protection. Harry knew that the Headmaster did what he thought was best, but it still irritated him to no end. Draco also dreaded going back to his parents, but was forced to do so anyways. Both Harry and Draco couldn't wait until Sirius got better, and both dearly hoped that he would be able to gain guardianship of them.

The three boarded the train, and sat with Hermione, Neville, and Ron (who was actually sitting with Hermione and Neville, but had to tolerate the trio's presence anyways). They promised to meet up soon and to write letters, and separated at the station. Luna gave hugs all around as did Hermione. They all exchanged some sort of farewell, and Harry reluctantly walked to meet the Dursleys. Their first year was past, and things were already going better. Things wouldn't go wrong this time. Never again.

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**Eight pages! Okay, I received a review asking about stuff fading out if they crossed time, and stuff like that. Like the two invisibility cloaks. If a lot of people have a problem with that, I'll take the time to change it. Otherwise, I prefer to ignore small plot glitches, or it'll give both me and the readers headaches. But if a lot of people complain, I'll go back. Top pairings are currently Harry/Luna and Draco/Hermione and Draco/Astoria (which are tied). Please continue supporting this story, and please review! Thanks for reading! **

**Story Stats:**

**Words: 19,266**

**Chapters: 7**

**Reviews: 42 (Yes!)**

**Hits: 3,367**

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**Alerts: 51**

**Thanks for all the support!**


	8. Chapter 7

**I am so sorry! I didn't mean to take so long, and my excuses you probably don't want to hear, so I'll just start the chapter! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I even live in England. So sad, ain't it?...**

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Chapter 7

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"Boy!" A shrill and unpleasant voice pierced the cool and silent morning over Privet Drive. A certain aforementioned "boy", a raven-haired twelve year old with emerald green eyes rolled over in his stiff bed in Dudley's second bedroom. Harry Potter groaned, and fumbled around for his glasses, which were very inconvenient. This reminded him he had to get more stylish glasses or contacts soon. Though this was not the time to think of this.

"Up! My Duddykins needs breakfast, even if he is on his diet, and so does Vernon! Up!" an irate Aunt Petunia yelled. Harry stood up and grumpily made his way down the stairs, wishing for a good cup of hot coffee, especially since it was totally possible, just not for him. He brought out eggs, sausage, and pancakes along with a grapefruit and a small melon and set to work frying sausages and eggs. He mixed blueberries in the pancake batter, and cut up the grapefruit and melon in a bad mood.

Harry had had to suffer a whole summer with his horrible, neglectful, mean, unkind, abusive, no good (you get the point, right?) guardians. Though he supposed that Draco might be suffering just as bad, it didn't get rid of the sour taste in his mouth for both his relatives and Draco's. As he made coffee and poured orange juice he tried to stop his venomous thoughts and focus on the bright side of things.

The Philosopher's Stone was safe, as was Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel, courtesy of last year's hard work. And as soon as Sirius recovered mostly from his stay in Azkaban then hopefully he would find a way for both Draco and himself to live with him. Even if he had to strangle Dumbledore himself, he would get Draco out of that horrible household. As his Uncle and Cousin walked down the stairs (more like stomped loudly) and sat down at the table, Vernon scowled viciously at him.

Harry just sighed mentally and sat down, wincing slightly as the chair made contact with his sore and tender back (courtesy of a cold he had to nurse, therefore disenabling him from doing chores). He ate his meager breakfast, despite the quantity of what he made, quietly. Vernon would go to work at Grunnings, and Petunia would most likely go to one club or another. Though Dudley loved to torment him, the diet the doctor at put him on had him spending almost all his time at Pier Polkiss's house stuffing himself with snacks (which really didn't make a point of the diet, and made Harry suffer a whole lot more).

After breakfast Uncle Vernon stuck a list of chores in his face with a grunt and left after kissing Aunt Petunia on the cheek and thumping Dudley's back affectionately. Aunt Petunia smiled, patted Dudley on the head cooing at him, and scowled at Harry before leaving the room for Bridge Club or Garden Club or something like that. Dudley frowned at his grapefruit and water and walked to meet Pier after thumping Harry on the back of the head. Harry grimaced a little and turned around. Using wandless magic to finish his dishes he went back to his room.

He decided to write a letter to Luna and wrote about the better parts of his summer. The emerald eyed teen frowned at the thought that he couldn't write Draco, and then smiled happily at something. Harry grabbed his untraceable wand and performed several security, privacy and magic-masking charms and spells on a piece of parchment, ensuring that Lucius Malfoy would have no idea he sent it. He used the charm that the Marauders had used to hide the words from professors.

Harry thought about the charm's password thinking of something that Draco might now. He decided to just use "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," the original password for the Marauders' Map and hoped that Draco was smart enough to guess it, especially after how much the trio had used the Marauders' Map. The brunet wrote a long letter and charmed the parchment to show anyone other then Draco a short note regarding school from a "Jasper Rotary Them", an anagram of Harry James Potter.

Though the name sounded weird, a lot of pureblood names sound quite ridiculous. Lucius, Abraxas, who named their sons that? Apparently the Malfoy, it seemed that Draco had gotten off easily. He smiled and sent the letter off with a disguised Hedwig telling her to break it and fly away in a zig-zag formation if she saw a wand. He was a bit anxious, but knew that Hedwig was very smart and he put several protection charms as well as an automatic portkey that would warn him if she was in any danger.

The summer had been hard for Sapphire and Hedwig, only getting food from the small amount of time Hedwig could be hunting and from the small tidbits of food that Harry was able to sneak. Aunt Petunia kept tight guard of all her cabinets and the refrigerator and despite Harry's best efforts he couldn't sneak anything out without her knowledge. He cursed that he hadn't remembered to bring food with him, but with all the excitement of last year he had forgotten.

Harry sighed, one more month before Hogwarts would start and he couldn't wait. It seemed like it would take forever.

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Draco groaned into his pillow. This summer was going by at a snail's pace, and he was dreading getting up in the morning. His parents treated him with a cold and chilling indifference and it was torture compared to Luna and Harry's bright and happy smiles and affectionate and reassuring touches.

He anticipated going to Diagon Alley for supplies and then to Hogwarts. Luna and Draco were so close, yet so far away! Just then an owl flew into his bedroom window. He stared incredulously wondering who would write him using owl post besides Luna or Harry, both of which were warned not to. Draco held out his arm and the disguised Hedwig landed on it. She nipped affectionately at Draco and held out her leg. Then the snowy-white owl sat on his dresser and waited patiently. Draco got some water for the owl and opened the letter. The seal seemed very familiar, though he didn't know why.

Jasper Rotary Them? What sort of weird name was that? Even his name Draconis Lucius Malfoy sounded better and more normal. All of a sudden a brilliant smile spread over his face. Jasper Rotary Them? Harry James Potter? Though he was a bit irked that the emerald-eyed teen decided to disregard Draco's warnings, he felt a warm feeling flush through him at the unexpected letter which just brightened his day. But why in the world would this "Jasper" need help on Potions when Harry was just as adept at Potions as Draco himself?

The Marauders' Map! How many times had the trio used it themselves to get out of trouble? The silver-eyed blond hoped that the password was still the same, and whispered very quietly after making sure that no one was near the hallways, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." What an ingenious password! Sort of like the week that Ron had gotten to choose the password and chose "Slytherins suck!" What respectable Slytherin would utter that, even if they knew it was the password? Not many.

Draco's face spread into a brilliant grin as words in Harry's writing silently and carefully spread across the page. He read the letter quickly and murmured, "Mischief managed." Draco cast Incendio on the paper and watched as it quietly burned. Then he cast a charm that prevent Reparo spells from being casted and dropped the ashes outside his window.

Blond Draco got out a parchment and an elegant quill and started by also casting the charms Harry himself used only hours ago. He used a different password just in case and though it took him a long time to swallow his pride, he uttered what no Slytherin would guess, "Slytherins suck!" He made a face at the password, but sent out a reply to Jasper Rotary Them and then a long letter to his fellow Slytherin. This just made his day a lot better. He strongly looked forward to when he would be able to go back to Hogwarts and meet up with Luna and Harry. He couldn't wait.

Though he was a bit apprehensive about what the Dursleys would do if Dobby dumped pudding on their house guests again Harry had assured both Luna and Draco that they shouldn't worry. Draco sighed, and turned over back onto his emerald pillow.

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Luna had been having a wonderful summer with her father. The only part she regretted was the fact that both her best friends had to spend their time in horrid households with relatives that hated them. She had exchanged letters with Harry, and knowing that Harry would somehow get word to Draco asked him to tell Draco hi. The blonde was worried about second year for them, especially the basilisk. It didn't sound safe, but nothing that Harry did every sounded safe. She sighed and wrapped her lavender blanket around her closing her eyes to the familiar and comfortable surroundings.

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And so the summer passed for the trio, with letters between friends and "Jasper Rotary Them" and the summer was bearable. Still they all longed to be back at Hogwarts with their friends and yet the summer passed slowly. Harry silently dreaded the arrival of Dobby, not because of the house-elf but because of the trouble it would undoubtedly cause. Harry also had a premonition that the following week would not be pleasant. And so it was true.

Dobby popped into Number 4 Privet Drive right on time, and right on the evening of the house guests' arrival. Harry cast several dozen (you can never be to safe with a house-elf like Dobby) different silencing and privacy charms on his small bedroom and sat on his bed to read, lounge and wait for Dobby's appearance. After about twenty minutes, give or take, Dobby popped into existence in Dudley's second bedroom.

Harry smiled slightly and said, "Hi Dobby!" He really missed the small being and completely forgot about not knowing Dobby in this lifetime. Dobby squeaked and his ears covered his head tightly. "Master Harry Potter Sir knows my name!" Then he gasped and a piping hot iron popped out of who knows where. "Stop!" cried Harry, and the small elf trembled, frightened. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, but don't' punish yourself! I don't care if you Malfoy's elf!" Oops. Dobby gasped again and the elf seemed to struggle with Harry's order and Lucius Malfoy's.

Harry sighed and patted the bed invitingly, and nodded when he saw Dobby's questioning glance. Dobby sat down gingerly and glanced again at Harry. "Master Harry Potter Sir must not go to Hogwarts! He in danger there, so he not go!" Harry had forgotten elf reasoning and just tried to nod reassuringly. He wouldn't have a magic car to fly in this time around and he preferred getting to the train station on time and being safely in the Hogwarts Express.

"I know what Malfoy's planning on doing, and I'm sure that I can take care of myself. Thanks for the warning though." It had taken lots of persuasion to get Dobby to accept the fact that he was going to Hogwarts and could take care of himself, but finally Dobby popped away. Harry sighed in relief, and lied down on his bed. Until there was a big bang downstairs. He heard the guests being ushered home then Uncle Vernon's heavy footsteps. Harry groaned then looked to the door. Obviously something had gone wrong, and he was going to be blamed for it. Harry sighed and lied back listening to Vernon's upcoming stomps.

"BOY!' Uncle Vernon's voice pierced into the silence and Harry sat up. Vernon busted into the door and Harry knew that he was in for a long night.

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It wasn't until later that night that Harry finally knew what happened. Apparently Dudley had been sneaking pudding into his mouth for the lack of dessert he had consumed, and the whole thing toppled. Rather then punishing their son, the Dursleys had taken it out on unfortunate Harry. The emerald-eyed child winced slightly as he lay back on his bed and decided that he couldn't keep waiting for Sirius.

Harry grabbed his possessions along with Sapphire and Hedwig and traveled to St. Mungo's, where Sirius was being held, under a strong glamour. He had signed himself in as Remus Lupin, hoping to avoid suspicion (really hoping that the real Remus Lupin wouldn't come until later, and knowing it was slightly foolish to use Remus's name, but needing something familiar), and sat next to his godfather's bed. Tears fell from the emerald green orbs as past memories were remembered. Seeing his godfather lying there, though still pale and gaunt, but alive was a terrific experience. Harry smiled and gently let his glamour fall. Then he patted Sirius's arm and turned around to leave. "James?" a weak voice croaked out. Harry pivoted at the familiar voice then remembered that he had to go, before Sirius saw him.

But it seemed too late. "James, don't go!" Sirius cried. Harry turned around and looked at Sirius's silver orbs with his emerald green, tears in his eyes. Harry reached a hand out which Sirius grasped and Harry stayed there until Sirius fell asleep and his grip slackened. Harry smiled slightly and left. Little did he know how much of an influence he made. For the first time did Sirius respond to anything and Sirius soon remembered why he had to wake up in the first place. More specifically, Harry James Potter.

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Harry had gotten himself a room at the Leaky Cauldron under an alias and a glamour and collapsed into his bed. He knew that it was rather impulsive to leave the Dursleys, but he could defend himself and if he continued to stay there he would have most likely injured the Dursleys himself (more than he blew up Aunt Marge before third year). He was tired, and all he wanted to do was forget about his life for a few days.

Soon he would have to meet Luna and Draco and prepare for another exhausting and nail-biting year. Hedwig hooted comfortingly as if sensing her Master's worry and the teen smiled. _Why are you so tense?_ Sapphire hissed at her companion. _Nothing to worry about,_ Harry replied. Sapphire made a discontented noise but let the issue fall. Issue, wait! The Mandrake Potion for the basilisk! That would take so long to brew! And he'd really prefer not leaving several students to be petrified. It was lucky that they were only petrified and not killed last time. Harry sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time today.

He tugged himself out of bed filled both Hedwig and Sapphire's dishes and grabbed some gold out of his trunk. The brunet knew the ingredients to the Mandrake potion but he probably didn't have time to finish it before school started, considering the time it took to brew, and then simmer. But then he could always put a charm on it that froze the progress. Harry walked tiredly to the Apothecary and got the necessary ingredients from a somewhat creepy looking man, and then trudged back to his room in the Leaky Cauldron, nodding at Tom as he walked past.

Harry groaned as he fell into his bed, bidding his animal friends a good night before falling into the comforting oblivion of sleep.

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Finally it was time for our favorite trio to meet at Diagon Alley at Draco's chosen destination, a small shop filled with books and quietly chattering people. That day Draco had been shipped there, and dropped off with his father (undoubtedly for Lucius Malfoy to slip the wretched diary into Ginny's books). Harry had wanted to get rid of the horrid horcrux as soon as Ginny had gotten it, but Luna had reminded him that they had no way of destroying it except FiendFyre, which was extremely dangerous and hard to control. So they had to wait for the basilisk venom, though neither the brunet nor the two blonds were happy about it.

Draco had arrived first, and walked to a corner of the small shop after grabbing a book and ordering a small cup of coffee. The clerk gave him the coffee with a weird look, but Draco ignored her and sat down on a booth big enough for three. Luna bounded in afterwards, a bright smile on her face and waved enthusiastically at Draco before getting a fruit smoothie. Harry came last and to both blonds looked exhausted. The boy was pale and had dark circles under his eyes causing Luna to frown and Draco to glare at him. Harry smiled sheepishly and ordered a cup of coffee for himself ignoring Draco's and Luna's combined glare at drinking caffeine after clearly being exhausted.

He hadn't had caffeine since they had gotten back to before first year and he was suffering from caffeine deprivation. Harry dropped himself to the open seat next to Draco and tried to appear well rested despite the bags under his eyes. Not that he thought that they could see them. The emerald eyed twelve year-old had tried to put a glamour over them, but he was so exhausted that his magic didn't work.

"Harry," a pained female voice whispered. Harry looked at Luna and winced at the woeful look. Luna gently touched the dark circles under his eyes and Harry winced. He grabbed a mirror out of his pocket and grimaced. "Oops?" This was met with both blonds' furious glares, and all talk was halted. Each silver-eyed blond grabbed an arm and started dragging him out the shop. "Wait, what are you two doing?" "We're dragging you to get some rest at the Leaky Cauldron," Luna replied. Harry sighed, then conceded, knowing his best friends they wouldn't give him any rest until he actually got some rest. "I got a room there, Room 11, put on some glamours and I'll lead you."

Draco and Luna exchanged worried glances over the fact that Harry was at the Leaky Cauldron and Harry pressed determinedly onward after casting a glamour on himself. Unfortunately, his sleep and food deprived body was tired and he swayed dangerously before his world went black.

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Luna yelped in surprise as Harry's body started to crumple to the floor and reached out to try and catch him. Between Draco and herself she was able to drag Harry upwards and they each threw an arm around Harry's shoulders. The glamour Harry cast on himself was slipping and Luna had to cast one on him herself. Draco and Luna carried Harry up to his room ignoring Tom's worried glance at Harry, and set him softly on the bed.

Sapphire and Hedwig hooted and hissed in worry at seeing their Master's limp form, but once sensing that the hidden figures were actually Draco and Luna they relaxed slightly. Luna smiled at the snake and owl and dropped their glamours after Draco had cast several privacy charms on the inn room.

Luna sighed and transfigured two wooden chairs at the side of the room into emerald green armchairs, then dropped tiredly into one. Draco sat in the other one with a frown on his face. "He's so skinny," Luna whispered sadly. Draco's silver eyes grew cold and icy as he thought of the reasons why their best friend might be this tired and malnourished.

"What do you think happened?" Luna asked her blond companion. "Whatever it is, Harry is in for an interrogation after he gets up and eats a good meal," Draco replied. "We might as well get some sleep. Do you think you can make up an excuse for your absence to your father?" Luna nodded and they both went off to contact their families. Luna called her father and Xenophilius Lovegood gave his consent, as long as she wasn't doing anything inappropriate and was just staying with some friends. Though it wasn't really a lie…

Draco flooed his godfather using the fireplace in Harry's room, and asked Severus if he could cover for the blond, saying that something had come up. Severus agreed after Draco promised to tell him what happened once they got to school. Draco sighed, and then re-transfigured the previous armchairs into beds. Luna lied down on one of them after glancing at Harry with a frown. Draco and Luna soon drifted off to sleep, and a comfortable silence covered the room.

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Luna woke to the smell of breakfast, and then started. Draco was in no way a cook, and it smelled like freshly made food, not the pre-made stuff the Leaky Cauldron provided. She sat up and glared at the person making breakfast which happened to be tired looking Harry Potter. The circles under his eyes had lightened a bit, but were still there. Luna reached across the room between Draco's bed and hers and nudged him awake. Due to habit Draco didn't make a sound, courtesy of times where a snap of a twig could get them all killed and opened his eyes quickly.

Draco also glared fiercely at the sight of Harry stirring porridge over a small Bunsen Burner-like stove and stood up. "Oh, you're up," Harry replied without turning around, "Get cleaned up and breakfast will be ready." Luna sighed and stood up with Draco at her heels. They stalked over to the self-sacrificing brunet and Draco seized his arms. Harry started, and Luna grabbed the spoon from the air as it fell. "Hey!" protested Harry as he was dumped unceremoniously into his bed and tied to it with a spell.

Luna took over the familiar job of making breakfast while Draco made sure that Harry was pinned firmly to the bed. Harry frowned, a sense of déjà vu flooding him but allowed himself to be tied as it most likely wouldn't matter to the blonds that he protested. "Why'd you just tie me to my own bed? And I was cooking breakfast!" Draco asked over his shoulder, "Luna, should I just do it?"

Luna nodded before glancing over her shoulder and Draco put Harry into a restorative sleep before Harry had any idea what was going on. The spell was very familiar from the days where Harry had deprived himself of everything including sleep due to guilt, and both Draco and Luna hated the fact that Draco had to cast the spell. They obviously haven't been doing a good job as friends if they hadn't noticed how tired Harry was. Both of them forgot the fact that they hadn't seen Harry since school ended; they were so used to looking after Harry.

Luna sighed and went back to the porridge, Draco taking over and allowing her to clean up after he finished. The spell lasted as long as the caster wanted it to too, and Draco took it off after breakfast was done reluctantly, wanting Harry to have more sleep. Harry yawned slightly as he woke up, and after he realized what happened glared angrily at both Luna and Draco. Then he sighed and stretched after getting out of bed. Both blonds wore apologetic yet still stubborn looks and Harry knew better than to argue when they were like this.

Draco and Luna waited for Harry to go through his morning routine and then they ate their breakfast over a comfortable silence. As Draco munched on some toast with jam he couldn't help but wonder why Harry hadn't been taking care of himself properly. Surely there couldn't be that much to do? He frowned unconsciously as he was thinking and Harry looked at him with a concerned look. "What's wrong?" he asked his blond friend.

Draco's eyebrows creased slightly. "You're asking me what's wrong!. We meet up with you to find you half-dead on your feet! What have you been doing all summer to get you that exhausted?!" he ranted. Harry sighed and put down his mug as did Luna, who was looking on with a wary look. The two formal rivals quarreled a lot but instead of the usual biting responses it was more of a teasing between close friends. Unfortunately, once in a while (especially regarding Harry's health) they fought with each other.

The lone brunet gave Draco a tired look and Luna stopped the argument. Harry usually never backed down or appeared weak even to his best and closest friends. Draco immediately stopped and sighed. Harry stood up to clear the table, and when he turned around Draco immediately fired another spell to render Harry unconscious. Luna grabbed the dishes that slipped from the boy's grasp and Draco caught the noticeably lighter body.

Draco easily lifted the small body into a bed. Luna used a simple household spell to clean up the remainder of the meal. "How long should we make him sleep this time?" Luna asked quietly. "'Till dinner," Draco said determinedly. Luna knew that Harry would definitely not like that, but conceded after looking at Harry's peaceful face.

Draco slumped into the still transfigured bed he had slept in last night, and Luna talked with him throughout the day, filling themselves in on each other and just chatting about little things. They stopped for a quick lunch, which they didn't wake Harry for since they had piled his plate with food at breakfast, and continued talking until dinner. Then Draco let up on the spell and faced a pair of emerald eyes that were glaring angrily at him. Well, Luna a bit too, but Harry knew that it was Draco who cast the spell.

"Again, Draco?" frowned an agitated brunet. Draco nodded firmly and Harry let it go at the determined and resolute look in his friend's eyes. "Let me get up and make dinner? You know that you both love my cooking," Harry pleaded. That was true, but for a very long time Harry had fallen into a deep depression, prompting Luna to learn how. Luna intervened and shook her head. "Unless you want to keep sleeping until dinner is ready, you'll sit there and relax." Luna tossed Draco a balm for Harry, just in case that _despicable_ Muggle had beaten him again. Luna always got teary whenever she saw her friend's wounds (in the battlefield) and since Harry felt uncomfortable with that Draco usually dressed his wounds.

Draco told Harry, "Take off your shirt." Harry frowned and pulled away slightly, "I've taken care of that." In truth, the pudding incident had been bad, and Harry didn't want either Draco or Luna to see, as Luna would probably cry against her will and Draco would scowl, curse, and then be sent to Azkaban for murder. Draco frowned (hadn't he been doing that a lot?) and told Harry, "Well then I can redress them. It's either you take it off or I'll do it myself."

Harry shook his head wordlessly and turned around, knowing that he wasn't going to get away with it but trying anyway. Besides, if he was unconscious then he wouldn't have to see his friends' reactions. Draco sighed and used the spell for the third time in a very long time, almost a year and a half. Harry fell limp again, and Draco pulled of his shirt. Luna had left to buy food for Sapphire and Hedwig, mostly because she knew that it had to be serious if Harry didn't even let Draco and Luna see.

Harry had been busy, and hadn't had time to get a balm. Even if he had, the injuries were relatively recent, and wouldn't have healed. Draco was shocked into silence at the welts and bruises over his friend's back and body, and wondered how he hadn't noticed it before. No wonder Harry had wanted to be unconscious and refused to answer to Draco's commands. He mechanically took of the lid of the balm, and rubbed it gently over Harry's wounds. This was the worst he had seen his friend in a long time. The last time was when he had been kidnapped by Death Eaters while trying to save Draco, and he promised himself that he would never see his friend in this condition again.

Draco had failed. A tear fell gently and carefully, and Harry twitched under his grasp. Harry gasped as he fought against the spell, and woke up. "No." the emerald eyed teen stated. He grasped his best friend's arm and whispered quietly, "It's not your fault, and it never will be." Then Harry gave against the spell again and fell back into oblivion. Draco sighed quietly and continued rubbing balm into his friend's injuries. He would not fail again, he promised himself silently.

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By the time Luna got back Draco had calmed down and was drinking a cup of lavender tea, and lounging on an armchair. "He's still asleep?" she asked him. Draco nodded offhandedly, and Luna asked, "Dinner?" Draco nodded again, and dropped the charm. Harry started slightly and woke. "Dinner?" he asked, and Luna nodded. And so the trio sat down to a meal after a grim and tiring day, and promised each other that they would talk tomorrow. Then the two blonds and the brunet went to sleep again, after Luna called her father again. The blonds would have to leave tomorrow at the latest and they were going to make the best of their time together before Hogwarts.

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Harry woke first, the charm having dropped when Draco had drifted off to sleep. He placed a silencing charm on the half of the room where his friends were staying and got up. He drifted towards the Mandrake Potion, keeping an eye on it, then made breakfast in the same fashion that Luna had.

After the breakfast was done he had put a heating charm on the food, and rubbed some balm into the injuries that he could reach. The emerald eyed teen winced slightly, but knew that he should take care of himself, even if he had been a bit preoccupied lately. That and he wasn't looking forward to the conversation that the trio would be having as soon as everyone had had breakfast.

Luna woke to silence, and that was what unnerved her. She was sure that Harry would be up before her and they would have to tie him to his bed again. She sat up quickly and nudged Draco. They saw Harry and since the teen looked well rested (at last!) they let it go. The blonds went through their morning ritual and ate breakfast together. Luna had piled food on Harry's plate, and Draco slipped things on when Harry wasn't looking. Or so he thought. Harry knew that it didn't matter if he protested, so he just took it silently.

After breakfast they sat on their beds, and Draco looked pointedly at Harry. Harry frowned slightly and then began his story. When he reached the Mandrake Potion Draco gave a start. "So that's what you've been doing? But even that won't make you that exhausted!" "Nightmares." Harry said shortly. Both Luna and Draco winced at the thought of Harry's horrible nightmares and Harry looked down.

Luna patted his back and Harry winced. She gasped and apologized continuously until Harry told her that it was okay, and smiled encouragingly. They spent the rest of the day catching up with each other until Luna had to go. She embraced both boys lightly and said, "I'll see you both at King's Cross." Harry and Draco both hugged her back. She left under her glamour and Harry smiled.

Draco turned to Harry and told him, "Take care of yourself and use the balm. Eat too, three meals a day." Harry nodded silently and they embraced gingerly. Draco turned around reluctantly and left. Harry collapsed into his bed and winced at the pain. Just a few more days before they could meet up again at Hogwarts. Which reminded Harry that he hadn't gotten his supplies yet. He dragged himself out of bed and fed Sapphire and Hedwig mice. Then he grabbed his supplies and continued reading. He slept at ten, hoping that Luna and Draco would stop worrying about him if he didn't look half-dead on his feet. His last conscious thought was _Well, at least I have me friends this time around. _

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**Thirteen pages! And a bit. Sorry, again, about the delay. Hope the extra long chapter makes up for it. This chapter was so sappy, but I like the brotherly Draco/Harry moment. I feel like I'm not giving Luna much to do…Oh, well, I try. Harry/Luna and Draco/Hermione are in the lead and you have to the beginning of the third book to vote. Thanks for all the support, and please review! ****Oh, by the way, Happy Late Moon Festival to all who celebrate. I had a wonderful time with my family last night, and I hope everyone did too! =)**

**EDIT!: I have gotten two reviews from people stating that they dislike the abused Harry. Does anyone think that it's absolutely horrible and I have to change it? It'd take out a whole lot of the story, and I'd have to take more time from my plot. And I predict that Harry should be taken in by Sirius soon, and that this recent summer would be the last one spent with the Dursleys. You can always skip parts you don't like. If a lot of people absolutely hate it I'll go back and edit, but it'll take a lot of time. Tell me what you think!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Yay, a (somewhat) early chapter! Aren't you all happy? =) I've decided to keep writing the story as it is, as even canon features some abuse of Harry, and it's part of his character. If you don't like it just skip those parts, it's not that prominent. Without further adieu, the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: If I lived in England, or owned Harry Potter I wouldn't have to wait to buy books published in England or go to school…sadly, I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER!!!...in case you didn't catch that…=)**

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Chapter 8

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The rest of the trio's summer passed rather uneventfully, and soon it was time to go back to Hogwarts. Harry packed up his stuff, grabbed both Hedwig's and Sapphire's cage and tank, and said goodbye to Tom before using the room's floo to get to King's Cross after dropping his glamour. He stepped gingerly out of the floo, but stumbled anyway. The emerald-eyed teen got onto the train, walking quickly to the compartment where the trio had always met up.

Draco was already there and smiled slightly in greeting at Harry. They sat in compatible silence until Luna came, shining a happy and joyful smile at both boys. Then she pounced them both hugging gently, and both the blond and the brunet grinned and hugged her back. Hermione soon joined them and gave hugs all around. Draco held out his hand, but the bookworm ignored it and hugged him anyway.

The snack cart came around and Draco purchased treats, waving away Hermione's offer of money. Two blonds and two brunets ate chatting happily and catching up over what had happened over summer break. Luna kept on placing food in Harry's hand and ignored his half-hearted glares at her. Hermione eyed Luna and Harry, but ignored it in favor of chatting with Draco. Soon it was time to change and Luna and Hermione left the compartment.

Harry and Draco changed into their Slytherin robes and sat down to wait for the train to stop moving. When the train stopped Harry couldn't help but feel a prodigious amount of relief that he had actually gotten to Hogwarts without problems this time, and hadn't needed to fly a car into the Whomping Willow to get there. Draco smiled understandably at him and stopped so that Luna and Hermione could catch up with them. Three Slytherins and one Gryffindor ascended the stairs to their school, and then into the Great Hall. Students filed into the tables, with a considerate amount of room to be filled by the new first-years.

The trio turned their attention to Professor McGonagall, who was once again reading out the names for sorting. The Sorting Hat's traditional song was sung, and students sorted. There were no major changes and almost everyone was sorted into their original Houses (not that they knew that). Soon all of them tucked into the meal after Dumbledore's standard speech, and Harry shuddered at Dumbledore's twinkling eyes. A pair of scrutinizing sky blue eyes was constantly on him, and he was so skittish that he spilled his pumpkin juice all over Luna. She looked at him with a slightly disapproving gaze, but vanished the liquid without questioning his sudden clumsiness. After all, Harry James Potter always had a good reason for doing things.

After dinner they were led back to the Slytherin dungeons and the trio silently agreed that they wouldn't meet tonight, as the majority of the student population would be out of bed to meet up with friends and newly sorted siblings and professors would be patrolling the halls extra strictly. Harry went through his nightly ritual with Draco and both bid each other good night. Their dorm-mates mostly ignored them, but they were cautious about what they said and did anyways. Both friends dropped onto their mattresses and fell asleep in familiar surroundings.

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Luna woke up in the morning to familiar green and silver drapes around her bed and the sound of quiet silence. She always woke up before her dorm-mates, especially Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass as they chatted loudly and she always was an early riser. This year's schedule would be pretty much the same, and she wasn't looking forward much to repeating her second year. But almost all her classes were with Draco and Harry, and she could bear the boredom if it meant the blonde could spend time with her best friends.

The silver-eyed female lingered in bed for a couple of minutes before dragging herself out to the showers. She took a warm shower, and then brushed her teeth, combed her hair, and put on her uniform. By the time she had gotten downstairs, both Harry and Draco were there. Luna greeted them brightly, smiling at Harry's happy, "Good morning!" and Draco's grunt of reply.

Harry also grinned at Draco's grunt and dragged Draco up so they could go to the Great Hall and eat breakfast. The Great Hall was mostly empty, except for a few stray students in a couple of seats eating an early breakfast. Severus Snape was already at the Head Table and nodded a greeting to his Slytherins. The trio smiled back at him and ate the breakfast buffet that the house-elves had laid out for the students. Harry and Draco both drank warm coffee and Luna had orange juice, just like old times. They talked about frivolous things because of possible eavesdroppers, but had a good time in each other's company.

After breakfast the time-travelers went back to the second year Slytherin boys' dorm, which was empty as most people were finally going to breakfast and Luna cast locking and silencing charms on the dorm. "Have you been eating and sleeping?" Luna asked Harry glaring slightly. Harry nodded and replied, "Yes, Mother," and Luna's face broke out into a smile. Draco also grinned and they sat in silence for about a minute before Draco broke it. "So we just wait for the basilisk to just start petrifying people? That doesn't seem like a very good idea. By the way, did you finish up the Mandrake Potion, Harry?" Harry nodded, "Yep, I got ahead of schedule and I have several dozen vials of the potion."

Luna frowned a bit at the work Harry had to do, but only Harry and Draco were skilled enough at Potions to make the difficult potion, and Draco brewing the Mandrake Potion would cause suspicion. "So now we wait?" Harry asked. "So now we wait." Luna and Draco replied in unison. Harry plopped onto his bed in an ungraceful manner and Luna giggled quietly. It was soon time for classes, so Luna had to physically drag Harry out of bed with Draco's help. Their first class was Potions with Professor Snape, something that used to irk Harry to no end in his past life. It was as if Merlin wanted to torture him, pairing him up with Slytherins and Snape in his first class back at Hogwarts.

Two twelve year old boys and an eleven year old girl left Draco and Harry's dorm and left for Potions, talking all the way there.

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Classes passed pretty mundanely for a couple of days, until DADA that is. Now that Harry thought about it, he remembered that he had bought one set of ridiculous Lockhart books with Draco and Luna, preferring to share than to all buy not useful DADA books. Besides Harry was really wary of Lockhart, especially since the incompetent Defense Professor had vanished all the bones in his arm and almost obliviated him. That plus the fact that all embarrassing demonstrations seemed to star Harry, even though Harry totally ignored Lockhart.

It seemed that all the DADA teachers either were evil possessed people (Quirrel), weird obsessed with fame people (Lockhart), kind but misunderstood person (Remus), evil person under polyjuice (Barty Crouch Jr.), or evil psychotic witches (Umbridge), literally. Not exactly the standard DADA instructors. So Harry had to suffer through boring sessions of Defense that caused him much humiliation. However the only person who had dared tease him for *ahem* acting out the part of a banshee *ahem* had been sent to the Hospital Wing for an indefinite amount of time the next day. The emerald-eyed teen had a suspicion that it had to do with two innocent angelic looking blonds, but his suspicions were vehemently denied.

The only particularly noticeable thing that happened was the day that something quite interesting happened, that many suspected the Weasley twins and their mysterious (yah, right…) accomplice. It seemed that someone had placed the DADA classroom under Fidelius charm, but that was impossible since no student, even seventh years knew how to cast the Fidelius, right?

Here's how it went:

Harry was walking down a hallway, coming back from the library and to his Common Room when he was suddenly ambushed by a pair of almost identical redheads. "You're not Colin Creevey!" George yelled. "Yeah, that ickle-firstie who sorted in September was!" Fred protested alongside his twin. "Says who? He's probably stolen my name!" Harry shot back. "But the Marauders' Map…oops…" Fred rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Harry grinned and George whacked his twin in the shoulder. "You idiot, I thought we weren't going to tell anyone!"

By now Harry was grinning somewhat creepily and both Fred and George were eying him warily. "What's the Marauders' Map?" Harry asked sweetly, blinking his angelic looking lashes. "Never going to tell you!" Fred and George sang in unison, recovering from their hesitation. "What if I told you I knew the Marauders, and I'll even pull a prank with you that you'll never get caught with, because no one will have proof?!" The Weasley twins glanced at each other, then at Harry, and nodded.

"Now," Fred started.

"who're the" George continued.

"original Marauders?" they chirped together.

"That's creepy," Harry commented, and the twins smiled. "We know," the twins replied together.

"Okay, the original Marauders were James Potter," the twins raised curious reddish eyebrows, "Sirius Black," "Wait, wait, wait," George interrupted. "Just proven innocent from murdering thirteen people Sirius Black?" "No, of course not," Harry replied, "it's just proven innocent from murdering thirteen people, giving my parents away to the Dark Lord, and my godfather Sirius Black."

*Thump* *Thump* Twin thumps from the floor were heard and Harry calmly transfigured some pebbles on the floor to a comfortable cushion to sit and wait for his friends to gain consciousness. This sure was fun, he hadn't had that much fun since he dyed Draco's _perfect_ blond hair with a special potion that his hair alternate between neon green, neon orange, neon pink, neon blue, and pretty much ever other color you can think of except for the usual hair color of his, blond.

After about ten minutes George stirred, then Fred. "Carry on," they stated after sitting up and shaking the crooks out of their necks. "Sure," Harry replied, "Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew." They both noticed the malice in the tone of Harry's voice when he said Peter Pettigrew but both decided to ignore it. "So James Potter is related to you?" Fred asked. "NO OF COURSE NOT!!! WHY WOULD I BE? HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU MY LAST NAME IS CREEVEY!!!" Both Fred and George backed slightly away from Harry and Harry smiled internally. "Whatever…" George said. "So, then, is _Harry Potter_ related to James Potter?" "Oh that? Why didn't you say so? Yep, he's Harry's father." Then the antics started. It took Harry seemingly forever to calm Fred and George but it certainly caused Harry quite a bit of mirth.

Harry explained the prank that he wanted to pull, and both redheads agreed that it was genius. When Fred and George asked Harry how he was going to find someone to cast the Fidelius Harry shrugged and said he would take care of it. All they had to do was their part, and create a distraction while Harry cast the charm over dinner (or found someone to cast the charm as the twins thought) next week. And if there was anything Fred and George Weasley were brilliant at, it was distractions. Draco had agreed to be secret keeper when told, if not only to bring something interesting into their boring mundane lives.

Apparently the Weasley twins had started inventing the original Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes (WWW for short) products, for over dinner the majority of the people had turned into various animals. Harry's personal favorite was the Canary Creams, but then again it wasn't pulled on him, right? While everyone's attention was on the pandemonium that had erupted over the feast Harry quickly cast the Fidelius and set Draco as the secret keeper. Luna saw what they were doing and rolled her eyes, but smiled at the thought of Lockhart not being able to find his own classroom.

"FRED! GEORGE!" Professor McGonagall bellowed out. Honestly, she thought, you'd think that the Weasley twins and Harry (not that anyone could prove Harry did anything, but they all suspected him) were trying the give her gray hairs. Even the Marauders hadn't caused that much trouble! Well, they did, but who's counting? And the twins and Harry still had at least three years to cause trouble! Minerva shuddered just thinking about it.

"But,"

"we didn't,"

"do anything!" The twins finished together.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore cast Sonorus over loud exclamations of almost the entire school yelling and screaming (or chirping, meowing, barking, and making gestures). The students gradually quieted down and Dumbledore lifted the charm. "Will Fred and George Weasley please come to the Headmaster's office later?" The twins exchanged overly sad looks (just like Harry instructed) and nodded. "Now, students file in neat lines to the Hospital Wing, and professors, meet them there and fix this mess."

Harry grinned and Luna and Draco smiled eerily alongside him. Only Severus caught the mysterious expressions of his Slytherins and almost shuddered. He suddenly felt like taking tomorrow off, and Slytherin premonitions were almost always right. The Potions Master trailed to the Hospital Wing, scoffing a bit at a bunch of crying first years and walked away.

Harry, Draco, and Luna returned to the second year boys' dorm and all plopped onto the bed, putting on standard privacy charms. "What'd you cast Fidelius on, Harry?" Luna asked aforementioned emerald-eyed teen. "Let's just say whoever tries to find the DADA classroom will end up elsewhere…" Harry replied. "But the Fidelius charm doesn't work like that!" Luna protested. "It's not really the Fidelius charm, but actually a modified version that transports the person elsewhere when they enter the door. You can pick random places and the charm will alternately dump the trespassers or you can pick one place. I chose several places."

"Where?" Draco asked. "Well, I considered the Slytherin Seventh Year Boys' Dorm but then there'd be a bunch of screaming and it bug us, so I finally picked different destinations for different years. Seventh years will be dumped into the lake (the giant squid is harmless right?)," here Luna intercepted, "Harry, you just dump kids into the Lake, the Lake with the giant squid!" "Of course not," Harry replied, "the giant squid will save anyone who doesn't know how to swim! Besides I checked, and all the seventh years this year know how to swim!" Luna sighed, and nodded for Harry to continue.

"The sixth years will be sent to the Quidditch Pitch," Harry continued, and Draco interrupted this time. "That's all?" Luna sent a piercing glare at him but gestured for Harry to answer. "No, do you doubt my abilities! They'll all be sent to the Quidditch Pitch and placed on broomsticks in the air." "Harry, that's dangerous," Luna complained. "Nope, I placed those charms you can put on toy brooms so the kid won't fall off." "Well, you certainly put a lot of time into this," Draco added in. "There's not much to do until the (here Harry cast a pointed look) until something else happens. And school is easy this time around, when you know everything."

"Anyways, the fifth years and fourth years will be sent to Professor Snape's classroom," "Very intimidating," commented Luna, "and imagine what our resident Potions Master would do if kids constantly appeared in his classroom." The trio burst out laughing and didn't stop until Draco gestured Harry to continue five minutes later. "and the third and second years will be sent to Hagrid's hut." "Running out of ideas Harry?" a silver-eyed blond asked him. "Sort of, and I want to save the best for the first years," confessed Harry.

"This isn't dangerous right?" asked a concerned Luna. "They are just first years." "Nope," reassured Harry, "just slightly traumatizing." "Where now?" asked Draco. "Trelawney's classroom," Harry replied. Three seconds passed before they all burst out laughing again, harder then last time.

"Weren't…you…traumatized…for…life…the…first…time…you…went…in there?" Draco asked between gasps. Harry nodded wordlessly and they continued laughing for quite a while. "What about Lockhart?" Draco asked in a venomous voice. "He'll be sent with whatever class he's teaching," Harry replied. The trio started laughing again, but felt no sympathy at the horrible teacher that had tried to kill Harry, or at least make him lose all his memory. "Skip DADA tomorrow with me and the twins?" Harry asked. "Of course," the blonds replied in unison.

The next morning Harry, Luna, Draco and Fred & George were mysteriously absent from breakfast. Even more mysteriously Severus Snape walked in late, saw that those three Slytherins and two Gryffindors were absent, and promptly pivoted and walked back out. Students began eying each other and the professors nervously, and were tense all throughout breakfast. After breakfast was a Double DADA for fourth year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs and first year Gryffindor and Slytherin Double Potions. Snape had reluctantly entered his classroom to teach the worst class of the day, feeling all throughout breakfast in his personal rooms that something horrible was bound to happen.

Pandemonium erupted within twenty minutes of breakfast. First of all, a terrified Gilderoy Lockhart suddenly appeared in the Potions classroom. Several students dropped things into their cauldrons at the loud noise and things exploded left and right. Thankfully, Severus acted quickly from years of teaching "dunderheads" (just as Harry predicted, and Harry NEVER messed up prank prediction plans) and no one was injured, well, except for a certain cowering Lockhart. But Harry had had the twins make sure that they were making a harmless boil-curing potion and nothing happened except that Gilderoy got the fright of his life. Serves him right…

Then students started appearing out of nowhere in the same manner as the DADA professor and little first years were screaming and crying and even a few Hufflepuff fourth years. Snape growled, he knew that he should've called in sick today. He was very tempted to walk out of the classroom full of crying and hysteric people, but knew he had to do something, especially since the only other adult in the room was one of the hysteric people. About twenty minutes later everything was solved, except for the fact that no one had any idea how this fiasco had happened.

Dumbledore decided that classes would continue (silly, isn't that of him?) and Snape was tense all day. So poor (anyone else feel sympathetic for him?) Gilderoy Lockhart was sent to the Hospital Wing to get a Calming Draught and classes resumed. The next class was a seventh year advanced N.E.W.T. DADA class, and Lockhart bravely declared that he would "check the classroom" first. He walked in and suddenly found himself in the middle of the Lake. The seventh years waited, and then shrugged and walked in.

The Giant Squid suddenly found itself with several new companions. Lockhart was the only one who couldn't swim, and after all the children had swum to shore a huge tentacle wrapped itself around Lockhart's waist. Poor Lockhart (anyone sympathetic?) had fainted and had to be carried to the Hospital Wing by a pair of Ravenclaw boys.

This went on for quite a while, until Dumbledore was forced to stop classes by Lockhart being hospitalized from fright. Madame Pomfrey declared that it was just fatigue with a dose of fear and nothing to worry about, but Gilderoy would be out of action for a week or so. By the end of the day all the pranksters were feeling very satisfied, and Harry lifted the charm on the DADA classroom. However, no one was willing to test that and DADA classes remained canceled for a while, the utter delight of all students. Even the ones taking their N.E.W.T. tests this year agreed that they'd rather study themselves than waste an hour with Lockhart. Even the professors had to agree, and besides, they couldn't find out who did it.

School went on quite happily and Harry finally felt a bit relaxed between pranks, friends, and Quidditch.

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Christmas rolled around and all three of the trio stayed at Hogwarts as Xenophilius Lovegood had an important meeting he couldn't miss, and Luna had insisted that he went without her, and that she would be fine at school with her friends. Xenophilius had fretted for a while, but finally agreed promising to send her photos of Italy (where the meeting was held) and to "try and find Crumple Horned Snorkacks" while he was there.

The Mandrake Potion was carefully stored and ready and the trio met with Severus to give it to him. "Oh, Sev!" Harry yelled down the corridors as Draco and himself flew down the dungeon corridors to Snape's private rooms. Luna followed at a more leisurely pace carrying a bag of Potions in unbreakable vials. Harry banged on the portrait of a silver snake and the snake hissed angrily at him. "WHAT!" an angry Potions Master yelled through the door. "Open up!!!" sang Harry.

Harry kept banging and didn't notice that Snape had opened the door until it was too late. Snape grunted as he fell back onto the floor, and Harry whispered sheepishly, "Oops?" Draco groaned and pulled his godfather back up, setting him on a royal blue leather couch. By now Luna had arrived and glared at Harry. Harry sighed, and cast a few healing charms on the resident Potions Master.

Five hours and several apologies later the trio and Severus were seated over a small snack of coffee and cookies. "So let me get this straight, there is a huge basilisk on the loose, a possessed Weasley girl, and a horcrux?" Harry nodded and smiled brightly, and Snape groaned. "And you came to give me Mandrake Potion for soon to be petrified students." Snape buried his face into his arms and told them, "Hand me the potions and please, get out!" Draco and Harry glanced at each other, then at Luna and they all shrugged and left after giving Severus the potions.

This year sure was going to be memorable…and give Snape a _lot_ of headaches…

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**There we go! Not much to write, sort of a filler chapter so it's short. I probably won't get another chapter out till weekend, and I'll probably end second year next chapter. Sort of quick, but I don't really like second year, and not much happened besides the Chamber of Secrets fiasco. Same pairings in the lead, and 60 reviews so far! Yay! I have 67 people reading my story, please review! It's really encouraging, and I love helpful comments! =) Till next time,**

**~Maiden of Books **


	10. Chapter 9

**Hi! I changed the title, as you can probably see! It's basically Saving the Future in French. Hopefully, it's right, if I have any French readers could they please reassure me? Anyways, I'm starting this chapter right after my last update, but I probably won't have time to post it until next weekend. I'll try to get it out as soon as possible though. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Still. I hate disclaimers…sigh…=)**

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Chapter 9

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Life went on for our favorite trio and their friends, somewhat peaceful unless one of the trio or the Weasley twins decided to pull a prank to liven up the boring castle. And though Harry, Fred, and George were the main pranksters, even Draco and responsible Luna had a take at it. Luna's had been especially creative and involved several flying snitches, a sock, a clothes iron, and pink lemonade. I will leave the rest for you to imagine, as it is too horrible to say, except for the fact that it definitely will be etched into all present for the rest of eternity…

Soon enough though, reality had to take place and Mrs. Norris was petrified. Like last time, Filch went on for days about his "poor, poor, kitten" and though nobody felt very sorry for the vicious cat the trio seemed unnaturally tense again to all who associated with them. Harry flinched every time something loud occurred, like someone banging a book closed and Draco walked around frowning unhappily all the time. Luna jumped and seemed to be more tense and frigid to all who knew her well.

No one knew why, except for a certain Severus Snape, who was quite tense himself. Though he dealt with it by making first years and Hufflepuffs cry and yelling at Neville Longbottom, instead of jumping at little noises. Dumbledore still had that annoying twinkle in his baby blue eyes, but even he seemed to be frazzled as numerous students seemed to be petrified out of nowhere. Draco seemed to be constantly around Hermione, studying with her. Luna also spent a lot of time with Draco and Hermione, mostly hanging out with Hermione but since Draco was constantly around Hermione Draco too.

Harry was left to his own devices, so he decided to take up sword-fighting. Besides now that he thought about it, he had defeated the basilisk in second year by, as Minerva McGonagall had told him in first year after the troll incident last time, "pure dumb luck." He really didn't want to be pierced by a basilisk fang again as one, it hurt (of course), and two, he wasn't one hundred percent sure if Fawkes would appear this time around. Or that if he would be that lucky.

The emerald-eyed teen didn't want to worry his two blond friends more than they already were, so he didn't mention anything. Still, one weekend when Draco and Luna were doing one thing or another, he donned his invisibility cloak under a normal cloak over a glamour and slipped out of Hogwarts through one of the secret passages he had discovered through his years of schooling. Harry knew that somewhere or another there would be a sword in the massive Potter vaults. And so he visit the Gringotts Goblins in Diagon Alley and gained access to his vaults after verifying his identity and making sure that Dumbledore and any other nosy people would never find out that he made that visit.

Harry had found a sword that would shrink and grow to his size and thoughts, a beautiful sword with one small modest emerald and an emerald sheath lined with silver thread and small diamonds along the edges. Sparkly and pretty for a sheath, but sensible and not so heavy that it was inconvenient for him to lift and would hinder him in a fight. The citizen dubbed Boy-Who-Lived took the sword and thanked the goblin waiting at the door before slipping back to the castle.

Once he entered the dorm he grimaced at the sight of two angry blonds with silver eyes glaring at him. "WHERE WERE YOU!" screeched a worried Luna. Draco's piercing eyes turned almost the color of brittle metal and Harry cowered unwillingly under the unforgiving gaze. Harry meekly held up the sword to his long time companions, but neither blond turned to it. "And why didn't you take us with you for backup?" interrupted Draco in a harsh voice. "You were busy?" Harry said in a small voice, knowing that they wouldn't like the answer and he was in for it.

All the time spent with his companions took away all of Harry's "Gryffindor courage" and left him looking at two pairs of cold silver gray eyes. "Oh, Harry!" cried an exasperated Luna. "We're never to busy for you! Especially regarding your safety!" Harry nodded silently and Draco strode forward and grasped his shoulders in a tight but not painful grip. "Never do that again. It doesn't matter what we're doing, we're in this together. I will not have you running around by yourself, whether for just retrieving a sword or killing a band of Death Eaters." Harry frowned very slightly and Draco tightened his grip to the point of serious discomfort. Harry nodded and Draco loosened his grip. Both Draco and Luna brought him into a hug and he wrapped his arms around them.

"Do you wanna see the sword?" asked the emerald-eyed teen after a couple of minutes of silence. Luna rolled her eyes. Only Harry could change his moods that often and still seem perfectly normal and relaxed. They let go of each other and Harry brought up the sword, which he somehow managed to keep from stabbing Draco or Luna in the side during the hug. Draco nodded in approval, high praise for him, as he had seen a lot of brilliant weaponry during his Malfoy days. Well, traditional Malfoy days. Luna wasn't as sure, but she thought it looked durable and pretty, and that was all that mattered. She also nodded.

Harry beamed at their approval and they all dropped back onto Draco's bed. "Wait, did either of you put on silencing or privacy charms before Luna just start screaming at me?" Harry asked. Luna nodded and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry?" Harry told her, "It's okay. Now that I think about it, it was sort of silly of me." "Sort of?" she raised her eyebrows at Harry, and Draco glared at him. "Okay, really silly."

"And yes, I did," Draco replied to Harry's earlier forgotten question. Harry sighed and leaned back onto Draco's bed and asked, "So, what now?" Luna and Draco shrugged, and Draco spoke, "I guess we just have to wait it out until something drastic starts happening. Have you been hearing the voices yet?" Harry nodded and Draco chastised, "And you've never told us?" "Sorry," replied Harry. "This year sure has been slow compared to the other years," Luna said. "Yep," Harry replied. "But we get to relax a bit, instead of being so high strung twenty-four hours a day."

The rest of the day consisted of chattering with each other, and soon they lifted the silencing and privacy charms so that the other dorm-mates wouldn't become suspicious as to why they couldn't open the door. In a couple of weeks was the disastrous Quidditch game, and both Draco and Harry were nervous at the fact that Harry had fallen of his broom last time and gotten all bones in his arm removed by Lockhart. Harry wanted to avoid that, really much, as the Skele-Grow had not exactly been pleasant.

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The Quidditch game came, and Harry was feeling very nauseous over breakfast. He stirred around his eggs, bacon, and hash browns without taking a bite and Luna had to threaten to force feed him. Even Hermione, sitting at the Ravenclaw table, sent Harry a fierce glare over her own pumpkin juice goblet and Harry sheepishly started nibbling. At Draco's insistent glare he began eating a bit faster, hoping to placate him.

Soon it was time for the game, and Harry and Draco left to go change with their team-mates. Harry and Draco took off at the signal and Harry began scanning the air for the snitch. It was Slytherin against Ravenclaw, different from last time. A flash of gold flew by the goals and Harry flew slowly in circles to it. Unfortunately the Ravenclaw seeker saw it too, and though Ravenclaws are better at sportsmanship than Slytherins, their seeker was quite vicious. Not to mention older than Harry's physical body. Harry was almost rammed but he dodged. Even more unfortunately, apparently Dobby decided to stop by again, and see if Harry Potter was really not in danger, and cursed the bludger AGAIN. Poor Harry forgot that part and was once again whacked off his broom seconds after grabbing the Snitch.

Draco flew after him, but a particularly vicious jealous Ravenclaw _bumped_ into him and he had to swerve to avoid falling off himself. So again he landed painfully on the grassy floor. Draco dropped to the floor in a graceful leap and landed by Harry's side. The blond really wanted to start healing Harry, but the best he could do for the brunet was to keep Gilderoy Lockhart away from him. Harry moaned slightly as Draco put feather-light fingers on his arm, and Draco sighed. Broken again. By now adults were swarming as well as the Quidditch team. "Give Mr. Potter some room!" Minerva McGonagall yelled over the frantic whisperings of both the Slytherin and Ravenclaw Quidditch teams.

Luna had, among the chaos, gotten out of the Slytherin stands and was now kneeling right next to Draco. "Harry just can't ever catch a break, eh," she tried to say this lightheartedly, but both blonds could here to pain in the words. By now Severus and Minerva, as well as Dumbledore were by Harry's side. Lockhart was also approaching, but backed away after Luna's uncharacteristic (at least to him) cold glare. A student had obviously called for Poppy Pomfrey, as the matron came running with a Hufflepuff in tow.

Harry had cracked open his eyes and the resident MediWitch had dropped next to Draco and Luna. She took one look at Harry and conjured up a stretcher before gently levitating him onto it. Harry moaned slightly as his broken arm came in contact with the stretcher. Just because he had had much worse doesn't mean that he had to like it. Draco and Luna trailed behind the frowning MediWitch to the castle. Harry was set on a bed and given water and a spell used to set bones. Not exactly what you would call comfortable, but better than the Skele-Grow potion used last time.

The brunet was also given a sedative, and Harry took it with a reluctant look at his friends, who were still by his bedside. Luna and Draco both nodded encouragingly, so the emerald-eyed teen gulped it and succumbed to the peaceful sleep the potion brought on. Madame Pomfrey (who by now knew that the trio would stick together no matter what, as she had tried kicking them out before causing an incident she would rather forget…) transfigured two stiff white hospital beds into comfortable armchairs. Draco thanked her, and Luna sent a grin, before both collapsed into the soft plush green chairs to wait for their friend to wake on the morrow.

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The next morning Harry was the second to wake, with an already alert Draco and his side. The first thing Harry did was reassure Draco that yesterday (was it yesterday?) was in no way his fault, and was completely unpreventable. Draco, who Harry knew extremely well, was already up and fretting and relaxed slightly under Harry's consistent and constant reassurance. Luna woke up soon afterwards and went to the kitchens to bring breakfast. She brought back sausage, mushroom, and cheese omelets with coffee and hash browns and a small chocolate muffin that they split up after their omelets. As they sat sipping their coffee the resident blonds both sighed at the fact that Harry was, once again, injured.

Harry tried to cheer them up, and promised that it wasn't their fault, although he did wonder why Dobby started now, and not before. By then the matron of the Hospital Wing had walked in the trio chatting over coffee (an odd sight for twelve year olds and an eleven year old girl) and told Harry that as long as he'd be careful, as his arm was a bit tender, he would be able to continue classes. And the plus side was that he would still be able to right, as it was his non-dominant arm that got whacked by a bludger and the impact to the floor.

Two blonds and a brunet thanked her, and she bustled away to do who knows what. Harry, Draco, and Luna went to class and besides that life went on quite mundanely. School rolled by quickly. Apparently a lot of the timeline was still the same, as the Dueling club taught by Lockhart (*scoff*) and Snape was still in session. Luna had decided that they shouldn't go, but rather go through a real training session in the Room of Requirement. Both Draco and Harry agreed immensely, so it was done.

The three friends met up the same day that the club was set to meet with almost half the school (what a disappointment that would be) in their usually exercise clothes, mini-sized. Two blonds and a brunet grinned at each other in remembrance, and Harry even asked the room to show Potter Manor's training area. There were targets on one side of the wall (that suspiciously looked like the people that had wronged the trio, even a large model of Voldemort…) for spell work, and a muggle-styled gym for a physical workout. Draco, Harry, and Luna grinned at each other, and set to work. A personal favorite of them was blasting Voldemort's head off, and they teasingly fought over who got to do it first. Thankfully, the Room regenerated everything, and they even made a game out of it, "Blow Voldy's head off!" so eloquently named by Harry.

By the time their workout was finished they were all hot and sweaty, and took showers courtesy of the Room. Afterwards the friends sat down to cold drinks and cookies, also courtesy of the Room. All three of them looked tired, but extremely satisfied. "Do you want to see me with my sword?" Draco raised an eyebrow at Harry's question, and Luna nodded. Harry asked the Room for a practice sword and breathed in, remembering all he had practiced during his free time for the past months. A practice dummy, also in the form of "the self-proclaimed Most Evil Dark Lord of the Century" appeared and Harry smiled giddily. "Hey, look, another game! Slash Moldy-Pants!" Luna and Draco rolled their eyes, but focused on Harry.

Harry breathed in and took a stance, before flying through steps, patterns, and positions. Luna and Draco's eyes widened slightly in shock and the speed in which Harry was moving and smiled. Trust Harry to be able to learn how to use a sword that fast. But then again, soaking stuff up like a sponge was always Harry's specialty, and he was brilliant at it.

The audience clapped as Harry spun to a stop, and Harry smiled. "Now all I have to do is make sure that the other sword or person doesn't get me first." Draco shoved him in the arm, and Harry collapsed onto the sofa in exhaustion. All in all it was a good day and all three friends were proud of their new progress.

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Soon, seemingly too soon, it was time again for "The Chamber of Secrets Adventure." Now, only Severus and the trio knew that Harry was a parselmouth, and it would come to the young brunet's advantage. Hagrid was once again arrested and taken to Azkaban, though Harry had managed to make sure that it was only hours before he would enter the Chamber of Secrets. The trio was supposed to sneak in, get the basilisk venom and the horcrux and leave. Severus tried to convince them to let him go along, but all three insisted that they go alone, as they work the best together.

The night that Ginny Weasley was captured they snuck out under the invisibility cloaks, and several charms made by Harry and Luna as surveillance and protection. Luna had donned a cloak, and Draco and Harry shared one, and together they sneaked to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. The silencing charms kept even Myrtle from seeing them, and at Harry's direction the sink opened, causing Myrtle to flying away screaming about ghosts…Anyway, they leapt in after putting down the invisibility cloaks and sneaked in together. Luna, as medical backup, had run to Ginny's side to guard her in case anything went wrong while Draco and Harry took up offense. Tom Riddle was there, and made his speech while Harry pretended to listen. Draco was to grab the horcrux from Ginny and Harry to keep the basilisk from attacking everyone until then, and they would then work together to get the basilisk venom.

Luna had tossed the book to Draco, and Draco grabbed his wand and began shooting hexes at the basilisk, aiming for the eyes along with Harry. Unfortunately Draco's wand was knocked out of his hand and he was left with no form of protection. Harry tossed Draco his (as it proved to be compatible) and continued dueling with his spare. Not as comfortable to duel with, but useable all the same. The basilisk thrashed around as a cutting curse hit it, and both males had to swerve out of the way according to the sounds, as looking at the basilisk would mean death.

Harry's wand was knocked out of his hand by a moving tail and he cursed. He unsheathed his sword and tried to prevent anything from injuring him. Luna wandlessly summoned both Harry's and Draco's wands to herself, and kept them safe. She was afraid that if she sent them over to Harry or Draco they might get distracted and get injured.

Soon Draco got in a good hex with his wand and the basilisk howled (hissed?...) in pain. However, it apparently wanted revenge and dove in to try and bite Draco. Luna screamed and got up, knowing how lethal the venom was, but she was too far away to help, besides blasting the large snake's body away from her friends. Harry gasped and tackled Draco to the floor, then groaned in pain as the fangs found itself in his midriff. Draco also blasted the snake away, unaware of Luna's hex, and dropped by his friend. Luna had raced over too and both were now kneeling by Harry.

Harry smiled weakly at his best friends and grimaced at the spreading poison and both blonds' glares, one worried, one angry. "More bad luck, eh?" the brunet asked. Draco glared at him again. "Why?" "You're my best friend," questioned emerald-eyed teen replied. Luna had broken out into tears, though she was valiantly trying to hide them. "Don't!" she cried. What she meant was left unsaid. Harry felt his vision beginning to blur and blacken around the edges. Now it was for Fawkes to come, or they'd be in big trouble. Harry's eyes closed and two blonds wept for their brunet friend in the foreboding silence and dampness.

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**Cliffy! Mwhahahaha!...though the majority of you probably suspect the outcome…or do you? Sort of short, just under eight pages, but I've been pretty busy lately. I still have two projects and a presentation that are partly finished for Monday. Thanks for all the reviews, same pairings, I'll probably close the poll soon. Please review, and I hope you liked this chapter! **


	11. Chapter 10

**Hi! Sorry for the horribly long delay! This is the first break that I can enjoy in quite a long amount of time, and I decided to write something, and finish up the second book. It'll probably be short, as it just finishes up, and gets you all ready for the next book, but I'll try and update again soon. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: In about the month I haven't updated, I did not magically start to own Harry Potter…sad, eh?**

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Chapter 10

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Harry blearily opened his emerald green eyes to a familiar shocking white ceiling, and groaned. It seemed that he had to come to the Hospital Wing at least twice a year. His groan awoke the two sleeping blonds that had stayed vigil by his side, and they immediately raced to their put out friend. Luna tackled the poor brunet in a flying hug, and Draco sat on the edge of the bed, gently prying Luna off a choking teen.

Said teen grinned in thanks at his friend, and Draco nodded. There was nothing that needed to be said, as they understood each other perfectly, even with words. "Ugh, I feel like I've been run over by a herd of hippogriffs!" Harry complained. "Well, you should," replied Draco matter-of-factly. "Do that again and I'll kill you myself," the blond continued. "You're lucky Fawkes got there, though he was a bit late, and Luna thought of the stabilizing charm that she read up in a book after the last near death experience you had." Harry shrugged apologetically and Luna gave a start.

"Madam Pomfrey!" Said MediWitch came bustling in at the shout, and glared at the two blonds. "And why didn't either of you come get me until immediately when you saw Harry here was awake?" It was quite obvious that Harry had _not_ just woken up. Poppy Pomfrey huffed, then walked quickly to her cabinets, forced several foul tasting potions down Harry's throat, and ran a few diagnosis spells. She declared that he would be fine, "Lucky you," she commented, with a few days in complete bed arrest, and several weeks not doing strenuous things.

Harry frowned a bit, and then got that strange glint in his eyes that promised he would not stay in bed for that long unless he was tied to it…Luna and Draco exchanged looks, and then smiled wryly. Harry just wouldn't be Harry if he didn't disobey Madam Pomfrey's orders. Said MediWitch declared him fit enough for a few short visits (well, she knew that her infirmary was about to be run down anyways…) and that class (for friends) would be over soon and left.

Just as predicted, Hermione and Neville and the twins burst into the room, followed by a slightly laggard Ron. Madam Pomfrey chided them after coming out of her office, but Hermione and Neville were the only ones who had the grace to look slightly ashamed. She was soon forgotten, and Poppy went back to her work. Hermione tackled all three of them in a flying hug (though she was careful about not reinjuring Harry) and burst into tears. "You idiots!" she got out through sobs. "What in the world possessed you to go into the Chamber of Secrets alone? Or go in at all for that matter?" The Weasleys and Neville had backed slightly away from the wrath of an upset Hermione, and Draco sent them a glare.

Draco put a calming hand on the brunette's shoulder, and Luna gently adjusted Hermione in to a hug. Harry awkwardly patted her back, and she gradually calmed back down. Then she unexpectedly smacked Harry in the back of his head. "Ow!" the emerald eyed teen exclaimed. "What was that for?" All present rolled their eyes at the ridiculous statement, and Hermione glared. "What'd do you think?" "I'll be quiet now…" answered Harry.

After a short talk the visitors were ushered out by Madam Pomfrey, and Harry was ordered to rest, or have a sleeping potion shoved down his throat. One look at the matronly woman told Harry that she wasn't kidding, and both Draco and Luna would undoubtedly back the MediWitch up. Harry nodded and settled back into "his" bed. Luna yawned slightly and was pushed into a soft armchair (doesn't it seem like they need chairs a lot, especially for infirmary visits?) by Draco. They settled into a comfortable silence, and all three slowly drifted towards a calming sleep.

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"You imbeciles, dunderheads…" That was the first thing that Harry heard when his ears groggily started to work. He sighed softly, and opened his eyes blearily. The first thing he saw were two blonds cowering into his bed from the sight of an extremely irate (understatement of the year…) black haired Professor. It seemed that the rage of an angry (still an understatement…but no words have been invented yet for how angry said Professor was) Severus Snape was more formidable to said blonds than an army of Death Eaters.

Harry groaned a bit too loudly and attracted the Potions Master's attention…Good luck…"You! What did I tell you all? I'll go with you! Keep you from getting hurt! Does anyone listen to me, no, no one does!" Unfortunately it seemed that Madam Pomfrey was out, so the three teens wouldn't be getting salvation anytime soon. "Can we talk about this after I can think?" Harry asked, slightly meekly. Severus saw that Harry was awake, and though relief filled his eyes, continued yelling. "No, of course not! You're all insane!" The Potions Professor fell into a hospital chair at the side of the room, and put his head in his hands. Harry smiled slightly, and then resumed what he knew would be a long and painful talk.

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Harry was stuck in the Hospital Wing under Madam Pomfrey's watchful eye for about a week before he snuck out. He was found in the Slytherin Dormitory by and irate blond Malfoy, who yelled at him for about twenty minutes. Madam Pomfrey glared a while after he was brought back to her domain, but eventually declared him ready to leave, as long as he didn't do anything especially tiring. She glared again while saying this. The last few weeks went rather smoothly, at least compared to the rest of the year. That was until Harry decided himself well enough to have "some fun" again, and teamed up with the Weasley twins…The trio thoroughly enjoyed the rest of their second year, though nothing very memorable happened until two weeks before the last day of Hogwarts.

The day started out rather normally, until Harry was called to Dumbledore's office after dinner. Luna and Draco wanted to go with him, but he promised them that he would be fine, and he didn't want to cause much trouble. Luna gave a small frown, but both agreed to let him go, as long as he got back soon. And so the emerald-eyed teen made his way to the Headmaster's office, and stopped at the gargoyle. The brunet sighed, and then started spouting off different candy treats. The door opened at Ice Mice, and he walked in. "Ah, Harry, sit down," Dumbledore told him, blue eyes twinkling madly.

Harry blinked, before dropping gently into an armchair. "Now, what I have to tell you is of great importance, though it may come as a shock to you." Could it be? Harry didn't dare imagine what had caused Dumbledore to call him to his office. "It seems that you still have someone to take care of you." One thing that Harry disliked about the Headmaster was that he seemed to think the children shouldn't know any secrets that adults kept, and avoided saying anything of importance. What about the wards? A small voice in the back of his head asked him quietly. The wards of Grimmauld Place are stronger than blood words, another voice retorted. Besides, the Dursleys never really cared about him. He must have looked nervous, because Dumbledore spoke up. "If you want, you can go live with him instead of the Dursleys, but you don't have to." Are you kidding me? Harry wanted to ask. "Who is it?" the teen asked in an even monotonic voice. "A friend of your father's, your godfather actually," replied Dumbledore. "Would you like some time to think things over?" "No, I think I'll live with the friend of my father's, what's his name?" "Sirius Black," Dumbledore told him. Harry's heart leapt at the name of his godfather, and he smiled, ever so slightly. Dumbledore nodded, and then told him, "He'll pick you up at King's Cross and you'll spend the summer with him. I'll inform the Dursleys. You may go now, thank you, my boy." Harry nodded, and walked calmly out of the office.

He started running, then sprinting to the Slytherin Common Rooms, and yanked both Luna (who reading a book) and Draco (who was sitting idly) at dragged them out and towards the Room of Requirement. Luna and Draco followed him, used to his weird mood swings, and sat down to their usual living room design. "I take it you have good news?" drawled out Draco. Harry bounced slightly as he nodded and grinned. "Sirius!" He recounted what had happened during the office visit, and Luna and Draco both started smiling too. "That's great news, Harry!' Luna exclaimed. Suddenly Harry started frowning. "What's wrong?" Draco asked.

"What if…he doesn't want me anymore? I'm a Slytherin now, and so different. Besides, what if he gets hurt again?" Harry said hesitantly and doubtfully. Luna got up and put her hands on his shoulders, until emerald eyes met mercury-silver. "Sirius loves you. He might not yet, but he definitely will. He's a Black, remember, he has to know that there at least some good in Slytherins. And we'll help you. Nothing can go wrong this time, at least not that disastrously." Draco backed her up, "Of course Sirius wants you! Why would he take you if he didn't?"

Harry sighed, "Thanks, guys. I needed that." Both blonds nodded, and they sat in a compatible silence for a few minutes. "So what's going to happen next?" Draco asked. "Sirius'll meet me at King's Cross. But I don't know how or when to tell him about everything." "We can help you break it to him. I think my dad will let me stay over for a while if Sirius agrees," Luna replied. "And I believe that this is the summer Aunt Bellatrix (said with slight disdain) took ill and had to be taken care of by my mother. I'll just say that I'll be visiting a Slytherin's house for the summer, at least." Draco added in. "We'll help you, and we can always wing it," Luna joked. "It seems to work well for you."

They laughed, and slipped silently out, getting to the green and silver clad Common Room only twenty minutes before curfew. They cleaned up, said goodnight, and went to sleep after a long and exciting day.

Little did they know that it would soon be more chaotic. The next morning the trio went together to breakfast, as they always did, and were quite surprised to see the hall already crowded with people. Loud people, gossiping left and right. The trio exchanged glances, and then walked up to the Slytherin tables. "What's wrong?" Luna quietly asked Millicent Bulstrode, who looked like the least scary Slytherin. She wordlessly handed her a copy of the Daily Prophet, and Luna's eyes widened. **Lucius Malfoy dead, Lady Malfoy at St. Mungo's**. She gasped, and handed it to Harry and Draco, before putting an arm around Draco. His eyes widened, and he got up abruptly and stalked out of the Great Hall.

Eyes followed the blond time-traveler, as well as his two friends that immediately followed him. "Draco, wait!" Harry exclaimed. Draco slowed down slightly but still walked at a quick pace, until he reached his destination: the Room of Requirements. They walked in quickly to a sight previously unseen: Draco's room. The blond collapsed on the bed and buried his face in his pillow. "Why does it hurt so much?" he asked his friends. "It never hurt before," the blond continued. Harry gently sat next to his friend, Luna stepping behind Draco to give silent comfort. "That's because even if they weren't the nicest people around, they were your parents. They were never gone last time, even if they weren't necessarily nice to you."

Draco groaned, and Harry gingerly patted his friend. Luna bit her lip in a worrisome matter, but there was nothing to be done but give silent comfort. So the trio sat together, for quite a long time in the silence, each of them thinking about the series of events in their own way.

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The next morning was trying for Draco, and in turn his two friends. Draco seemed to be increasingly snappish, and went back to the scathing remarks of a pureblood-raised first year. It wasn't on purpose of course, but it still hurt the brunet and blonde especially Harry, as he valued his precious people above all else. Still they pushed on, and Harry silently covered his hurt at the treatment.

Two days after the newspaper article Draco was called to Dumbledore's office. His two best friends insisted on going with him, and after a trying talk Dumbledore took them to see Narcissa Malfoy. Draco wasn't told much, but he pieced together that his mother wouldn't be the same afterwards, childlike even. The trio was taken back to Hogwarts, and living arrangements were being considered for Draco.

Soon it was time for the end of the year, and for them all to leave. The feast was a joyous event, but with Draco still glum, it was hard for the time-traveling trio. Luna was scheduled to go home for the break, and they would contact each other through the mirrors that Harry had somehow gotten. It was decided that Draco would go with his closest living relatives which were actually Bellatrix (who was not exactly available…) and Andromeda and her family. Andromeda was willing to take Draco in, but it was hard to fit another person into the relatively small apartment. It was decided that since Sirius was a cousin of Narcissa's and had the Black fortune and Grimmauld Place, as well as willingness to take another child in, would take Draco.

Draco received the news calmly, and Harry was just glad that he would be able to try and help support the blond throughout summer break. Goodbyes were said, promises to contact each other were made, and the usual group of Hermione, the trio, Neville parted until school resumed in September.

Harry stepped off the train gingerly, a hand on the small of Draco's back. They threaded carefully through the waving guardians of the Hogwarts students, and waited carefully next to a brick pole (pole?...), as instructed to wait for Sirius Black. Soon a black-haired head was seen making its way to the two small (in size at least) boys waiting, though said boys were preoccupied. "Harry? Draco?" a voiced asked, uncharacteristically quiet. Harry gasped involuntarily at the voice, and a pair of emerald eyes met a familiar pair of silver ones…

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**And that's it! Short, I know I (only about six pages), especially for the long wait, but I've been really busy. This chapter was like pulling teeth, so hard to write. I hope it'll flow easier soon. Most likely some summer stuff next chapter, and as you can see I'm branching off into AU. If anyone would like to give me an outline highlighting important events in the third book, I'd greatly appreciate it. Hoped you all liked this chapter, even though it was hard for me to write. Thanks to all the people who reviewed, alerted me, and added me to favorites! =)**


	12. Chapter 11

**Hi! Remember me? I haven't update in, what?, a long long time? I'm so sorry! Forgive me! My keyboard decided to go whacky on me and make letters mysteriously disappear…I felt really bad, so I decided to publish this chapter even if it's really really short, and I'll get started on the next one as soon as I do…So, anyways, I'm going to stop taking up your reading time and let you read the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: You know, I'm getting real tired of this. I do not own Harry Potter.**

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Chapter 11

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Harry flopped onto his bed, in his room. He groaned slightly at the feeling of his tired muscles meeting the soft and fluffy emerald covers, and sighed happily. The past hours had been trying on him, though full of joy at the reunion with his godfather, and the prospect of having Draco with him the entire summer. After the slightly tense meeting with the black-haired, gray-eyed Black, the small trio had traveled to the familiar 12 Grimmauld Place. After a small but delicious meal, it was decided silently that all discussion would be halted until tomorrow, after a good rest. Sirius, who was uncharacteristically quiet, showed the two boys to their rooms, which were across the hall from Sirius's and next to each other.

The emerald-eyed teen was overjoyed at seeing his godfather, but more than nervous about telling the Black about the trio's past. It seemed that the blond and raven would have to talk some more. As if on cue, the door cracked slightly open and a silver-grey eye peeked in. Harry gestured for Draco to come in, and the blond gently opened the door. Draco unceremoniously dropped himself next to Harry and looked at the raven. "So, what are we going to do next?" asked Harry. "Well, I think we should wait a bit before telling him. I don't want to spend the rest of my life locked up in St. Mungo's if you ask me. Let's wait 'til he gets to know us better…then we'll figure out what to do."

"Sure," replied a weary Draco, and he pulled himself up agonizingly. "I'll talk to you later, I'm absolutely drained. 'Night." "'Night," Harry replied, and waited until Draco tip-toed back out of the room with light blue walls. He turned himself over and pulled up the covers after hearing the door close, and sighed quietly. It seems that everything would get harder from here, but with his friends, and hopefully godfather and Remus at his side, it would be easier than last time. With that, the teen closed his eyes, and drifted gently off to sleep.

_Several Hours Earlier_

Luna was tired. Extremely ecstatic at seeing her father again, but still exhausted from the long day. After departing from the train station with Xenophilius Lovegood moments after her parting with her best friends, she spent the rest of the day catching up with her father, and after a long discussion over dinner and a quick shower, she was finally lying on her bed. She absent mindedly wondered how the boys were doing with Sirius. The next two or so months would seem tedious compared to her school days, but she looked forward to the peace and quiet, as well as some quality time with her dad

She rubbed her closed eyes gently, and let a small sigh escape her lips. It was already their third year back, and it seemed that time just seemed to fly by. Before long, it would be time for the TriWizard tournament, then whole fight with Voldemort…it just seemed so frustrating! Well, it had to be done, and if it meant that she and the boys had to do it then so be it. She pulled her blankets up to her shoulders, and let out a petite yawn. Luna smiled slightly, and allowed herself to slip into the peaceful dreamland of sleep.

* * *

The rest of the summer went by quickly, and before any of the trio noticed, it was already late June. Harry and Draco had asked if they could join Luna on the second of July, and with both Sirius's and Mr. Lovegood's permission, were packing up for an overnight stay at the Lovegoods' home. The "talk," so the trio named it, was scheduled to be during the first week of August, and the trio was beyond nervous at it. Nevertheless, it had to be done, so they worked on trying to get closer to Sirius, and hope that it would go smoothly…enough…

And so on the second day of July, Luna was waiting anxiously at the fireplace, waiting for the boys to floo to her home. Xeno Lovegood was sitting in an armchair in the corner of the room, reading a documentary about rare creatures, and kept one eye on his vigilant daughter. At exactly ten thirty, a ruffled Draco leapt gracefully through the fireplace, and Luna leant back to give him room to land. Draco smiled at her, and greeted Mr. Lovegood, which Xenophilius returned with a small smile. At two past ten thirty, a soot-covered lump stumbled out of the Lovegood fireplace, to an audience of two frantic blonds. He muttered under his breath, "I never liked fireplaces…" before smiling and looking up at said frantic blondes.

"Sorry?" he asked in a sheepish voice. "Floo networks don't like me…at all." Luna softened her glare slightly, and Harry got up off the floor. "Good morning, Mr. Lovegood." Xenophilius Lovegood nodded at him and returned the greeting, and Luna took the two boys upstairs, to the guest room. Draco and Harry both set their bags down on the two twin beds. "Luna?!" yelled out Mr. Lovegood. "Yes, daddy?" Luna asked, peering out down the stairs. "I have to get a few things, for my next experiment. Will you and your friends be okay staying by yourselves for a half hour or so?" asked the father.

"Sure, no problem," replied the blonde, and Xenophilius quietly let himself out the door with a goodbye. Luna ran back into the guest room, and cast several charms to prevent eavesdropping on the trio's conversations. "So?" "What do you mean so?" asked a bored Harry, who decided to tease the blonde. It was always said that a bored mind was not a good thing… "You know what I mean," exclaimed an annoyed Luna. Draco took pity on his best friend and told her, "Not much has actually happened yet, beyond some bonding between us." "Aw, you had to ruin my fun?" teased a pouting Harry. "Yes." Draco replied simply, also teasing the raven.

"So, we wait?" added in Luna. "We wait," confirmed the boys in unison.

The rest of the sleepover passed rather uneventfully, and it was soon time for the dreaded "talk" and Luna's first "official" visit to the "Grand Ancestral House of Black." She was slightly nervous, even though she had been in there before, and knew where it was. Harry and Draco pretended to "show" her where the house was, as it was under Fidelius Charm. Sirius was waiting in the living room, and welcomed her with a grin. "You must be Luna! Don't be shy, friends of my boys here are friends of mine!" Inwardly Sirius shuddered a little; he was starting to sound like Dumbledore! Our favorite female blonde time-traveler smiled in response, but inwardly she shuddered too. Sirius really was starting to sound like Dumbledore! Luna was shown to a guest room, and Harry and Draco went downstairs to wait for her with Sirius, who was making dinner (surprise, surprise!) with the two boys' help. Sirius had dismissed Kreacher (who wouldn't leave, but was forced to) to the Hogwarts' kitchen, since Kreacher couldn't be just let go, and still had to belong to a Black because of some old contract written by a relative Sirius despised.

Dinner was grilled pork, with two side dishes of macaroni and cheese and vegetables. Luna appeared, dressed in comfortable sweats and a slightly baggy shirt. "Sorry for not helping," she apologized, and Sirius waved her apology off. "No problem, it wasn't that hard." Draco and Harry both choked back a giggle, remembering the first time that Sirius had cooked, and almost set the house on fire…still, he had gotten better!

The rest of the meal was eaten in comfortable silence, but all three of the trio was unbelievable tense. Draco was worried that Sirius might think them all lunatics, and put them in white rooms…which would be very bad…Luna was anxious about her friends, and how'd they cope if Sirius reacted negatively, and Harry, well, he was just plain nervous. He was finally reunited with Sirius, but it was with a Sirius who didn't know any of the past that Harry had experienced. How could he not be nervous? He was about to tell his godfather (who didn't know about half the experiences that Harry had shared with him in a different dimension? time?) probably one of the biggest secrets to ever be told.

Sirius was peering between his godson, cousin's only son, and their friend, and wondering why in the world they were all sitting so quietly and stiffly. Did he add sugar to the vegetables instead of salt again? He took a small bite, and shrugged. It tasted fine to him. So why were they so tense? Well, he was about to find out…

Dessert was a simple chocolate mousse with whipped cream that everyone enjoyed, and all three of the time-traveling trio complimented Sirius, as he did most of the work on it, though Draco and Harry did help a bit. "Sirius?" asked Harry in an uncharacteristically meek voice. "Hm?" answered Sirius, who was putting the dried dishes away into the cabinets. "Can we talk?" piped in Luna. "Sure," the Black replied, "just give me a second…" Sirius finished putting away the dishes, and walked out into the living room, flopping down on one of the lounges. "What do you three want to talk about?" asked the silver-eyed raven.

"Um…" Draco looked from Harry to Luna, then back to Sirius. They sat in tense silence for a few minutes before Harry blurted out, "We're time travelers from another place who came back to save all our loved ones for their utter demise, and to save the world from Voldemort and his horcruxes." Sirius's eyes popped out, and the room was silent…

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**Well, so here it is! I can't believe I forgot the authoresses' note…so I'm going to re-update the chapter in a sec…thanks for the reviews, can we please beat 100 this time? It'd make me extremely happy…?**


	13. Chapter 12

**Okay, I'm writing this as soon as I updated the story last time, but I don't know when it'll get done…but I'll get to work! And try and get you off the cliffhanger I left last chapter! Thanks for reading and reviewing! Oh, and Happy New Year!!! ^_^**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter…**

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Chapter 12

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After Harry had blurted out their secret quite bluntly, there was a moment of dead silence. Draco was the one to break it. "Ow!" exclaimed Harry after being whacked on the arm by an annoyed blond. "Sure we were winging it, but to just blurt it out like that! What were you thinking! That's the sort of action that gets you attacked by basilisks and Death Eaters!" Draco ranted. Luna's face split into a small smile at the mother-hen Draco and Harry sheepishly grinned. "Well, you said we should just wing it! And I've never been the most subtle person…"

Meanwhile, a shell-shocked man was still sitting speechless on the other side of the couch. His mouth was slightly open in a disbelieving expression, and mercury-gray eyes were wide with surprise. His hands were clasped together a bit tightly, and it would have been an extremely funny position if it wasn't for the fact that this situation was so serious. Said speechless man was still sitting there…

Five minutes later. By then our favorite trio had stopped bickering (well, mostly Draco and Harry bickering, and Luna eyeing them, ready to jump in if things went too far) and were peering at Sirius. Luna stood up, a little worried (at the lack of movement, expression, or rather anything!) and walked over to where the dog animagus sat. She gingerly waved a hand in front of his face, and frowned a bit at the lack of reaction.

"Harry, Draco?" she asked. The other parts of their trio had gotten up by then, and joined Luna beside Sirius. Draco poked Sirius, and frowned too at the lack of reaction. Harry stood up and pushed his shoulder. And Sirius fell over. Right onto the glass table sitting by the lounge. Hard. Luna gasped, and quickly rushed over, casting a few simple diagnosis spell on the now unconscious man. Harry winced, and ran next to her, levitating the Black back onto the couch. Draco walked up to the couch, snapping out of his slight daze, and looked at Luna.

"Nothing's hurt, thank goodness, but just a slight state of shock. A few hours in bed, and a warm meal should fix it. Hopefully…" Luna replied. Draco nodded, putting away his wand, which was prepared to cast a variety of healing spells and charms. "Well, that was unexpected!" Harry exclaimed. He was hit upside the head softly by Draco, and whacked on the shoulder by Luna.

"What happened to our plans?" asked Luna.

"We had no plans," Harry protested. "We agreed to wing it!"

Draco glared a bit indignantly at Harry, and replied, "That's not called winging it. That's called blurting things out with no subtlety!"

Harry sheepishly looked down, and replied, "Sorry, but I didn't know how else to wing it! Everyone was so completely silent!"

Draco softened his glare, patted Harry gently on the back, and then turned back to Sirius. "Do we just leave him here?" the blond asked.

"Well, I guess," replied Luna. "I wouldn't want to invade his privacy by going into Sirius's room or anything," before conjuring up a pillow. She placed it gently under the older man's head, and headed for the kitchen. "I am so dreading the upcoming talk we're going to have," she commented as she made some ice teas.

"Tell me about it," Draco added in, taking an ice tea from Luna with a nod of thanks.

They sat in quiet silence, pondering and preparing about what was soon to come.

* * *

Sirius groggily opened his eyes, to a seemingly relaxed trio (the keyword being seemingly), with Luna holding a small bowl of tomato soup with little crackers on the side. He moaned at the pounding sensation of his head, and groaned, "My head feels horrible! And I had this shocking dream! I dreamed that the three of you were from the future, and you were telling me and I hit…my…head…on…t-the…g-g-glass…table! Oh, Merlin, don't tell me this is why I have this horrible headache!!" Sirius's eyes were wide again, and Harry slowly walked up to Sirius.

"Do you want me to heal that headache?" Harry asked quietly.

Sirius was quite a bit speechless still, and Harry took that as a yes. He wordlessly asked Draco for a headache relieving potion (which Draco carried along in a tiny shrunken kit, with other potions, in case of an emergency) which Draco handed to him. Harry nodded his thanks, and passed it to Sirius. Sirius took it absentmindedly, downing it in one go.

He then sputtered, "This is horrible!" With that, the mercury-eyed man came back to his sense, and for once, didn't freak out. Luna handed him the tray of soup and crackers, which he ate carefully, before lying back down. Three awkward minutes later, he sat back up.

"So you really are all time-travelers from the future, coming to rescue your loved ones from certain death and save the world?" Sirius asked.

"Well, Harry was being quite blunt…" Luna trailed off.

"So, basically, in a nutshell, you mean yes, but you wanted to break it to me in a softer way?" Sirius inquired.

The trio nodded, and Sirius replied, "I see…"

Inwardly he grimaced again, a little Dumbledore in his mind, with its hands folded under the little chin and baby blue eyes sparkling like crazy. Now that was a bit of a scary image.

Sirius bobbed his head up and down slightly, ignoring the curious looks that Luna, Harry, and Draco were giving him. He then asked, "And does anyone else know?"

The trio exchanged glances, and Luna replied meekly, a bit worried of his reaction, "Well, um, our Head of House know…"

Sirius nodded again. "Wouldn't the three of you, being in Slytherin, have Severus Snape as your Head of House?"

The two blonds and brunet sat stiffly, and Harry hesitantly bobbed his head.

"I see…" "And were you planning on telling anyone besides me?"

Draco piped up, deciding it was his turn, "Um, well, we decided to tell you and Remus…"

"I see…and you three know Remus Lupin already…interesting…"

By now all three of our little time-traveling trio had been almost paralyzed with fright, each of them expecting Sirius to have blown up, ranted, yelled, something explosive to say in the least. Sirius nodded, _again_, and laid back down. He clasped his hands over his stomach and closed his eyes. Draco, Harry, and Luna sat still for a moment, before Luna went and gently waved a hand in front of Sirius's face. At the lack of response, she turned toward her best friends.

"Out cold, again…" the mercury-eyed girl said in a cautious voice.

"And so we wait some more," commented Draco.

The three of them trooped to the kitchen to discuss their plans, _again_.

Luna was thinking about how much longer they could handle the suspense of not knowing what Sirius was thinking. Harry was looking a bit pale still, and it would probably get worse soon…

Draco was pondering about how much longer this would take, and whether Sirius was going to put them in little white rooms. Hopefully not, as they still had horcruxes to hunt down. Though he wouldn't exactly mind a nice rest, even if it was in a little white room…

Harry was pale and shaking a bit, and extremely worried about how Sirius would take it. After all, Sirius was his godfather, and he didn't know if he could take it if Sirius through Draco and himself out on the streets…or put them in St. Mungo's…or disowned Draco and himself. Scenarios became wilder and wilder as they ran through his mind, and he found himself breathing harshly, and his hands shaking.

Luna noticed, and quickly got Draco's attention. Draco quickly dug out his kit, and tipped a calming and sleeping potion down Harry's throat. Harry grimaced a tiny bit, before going out cold into Draco's waiting arms. Luna cast a levitation charm hurriedly, and together they walked up the stairs and into Harry's room.

The brunet was gently dropped onto emerald covers, and tucked in by a worried Luna. Draco gently put a hand on her shoulder and led her out, closing the door behind them softly. The two blonds walked to Draco's room, and sat down on soft bed coverings.

Luna sighed, and commented, "A panic attack? He hasn't had one since we came back, Harry must really be worried about how Sirius might react. And I thought that the methods we looked up helped a bit."

"Well, of course he's worried, though I wish he wouldn't react so violently. All that tension can't be good for him. And Harry's anxiety doesn't come on really often, just when he's really really upset. It did help, and I'm pretty sure it's only because today's been particularly stressful," Draco replied.

They sat in a quiet silence, before Luna retiring to her room for the night, and Draco grabbing some spare blankets before bringing them downstairs to Sirius and covering him. He stopped by Harry's room, to be sure that nothing was going on, and Luna's room, to bid her goodnight. She smiled at him, and told him to get some sleep before tomorrow, and Draco finally went to his own room. The Malfoy sat on his bed, before standing up and finding a book he was planning on reading.

He read a couple of chapters, though his mind wasn't completely on it, before deciding to go off to bed for the night. He hoped that all would go well, and turned out the light before pulling his bed covers up to his chin. Draco had a feeling that tomorrow would be a long day…

* * *

Harry woke to the sound of birds chirping, before thinking of how cliché that was. He then surveyed everything, including his slightly shaking hands and the fact he was in bed, though he remembered not being in bed when he lost consciousness. He sighed a bit, and shook his head. He set about his morning routine, and dressed in some comfortable clothing. With a glance at the clock, he realized that it was around six, and went downstairs to prepare breakfast. Sirius was still out cold on the lounge, which was thankfully comfortable.

He set about making Japanese (though Harry didn't really know why) breakfast of rice, miso soup, some tofu, and a little plate of small fish. He hummed slightly as he worked, and Harry smiled at the soothing feeling that making food brought him.

Draco appeared soon afterwards, and glared at him for being up already. But then again, Harry had never listened to Draco much, well, at least concerning his health. He smiled (wincing internally at the Malfoy Glare ™) and gestured for Draco to sit down. The rice was done, and so was the miso soup and tofu. He was frying the little fish, when Draco walked over, took his cooking utensil, and pushed him gently into a chair.

Harry opened his mouth to protest and got another glare for his efforts. Luna came down soon afterwards, eyeing the pouting Harry and glaring Draco, before shaking her head. She brought out chopsticks and rice bowls from somewhere inside the cabinets, and set the table.

Harry cast a heating charm over the whole thing, and they walked into the lion's den *ahem*, sorry, living room gingerly. Harry gently shook his godfather awake, and his face split into a very slight grin at Sirius blinking his eyes childishly.

"Breakfast!" Harry beamed, despite the slightly sick feeling in the back of his head, and grinned when Sirius stood up with a smile.

"Ok!" the older man exclaimed, and turned a serious look on the trio, "We'll discuss all that stuff later, breakfast now, okay?"

All three of the kids smiled, and they strode together to the table. They all sat down to the Japanese style breakfast, and Sirius had a look of surprise on his face.

"Japanese food?" he asked.

Harry nodded, and dug back into his meal, ignoring the slight glares that his blond friends sent his direction.

After finishing the meal, Sirius took charge of the dishes, ignoring all three voices protesting, insisting that since he didn't help with making the meal, he could at least clean up. And then they all sat down again.

"So, I bet you're all waiting for my reaction, yes?" Sirius asked.

Three heads nodded, and Sirius sat back.

"Well, I don't know how to say this, but…I think that as long as you three don't exclude me, and put yourselves in unnecessary danger, there's no harm in it. Besides, it's not like I would lock you all up, even if I didn't believe you. And this sounds like the best prank ever! Imagine the looks on all the people's faces!"

Draco, Harry, and Luna broke out into huge grins, and Harry tackled Sirius into a hug. Sirius grinned and ruffled Harry's hair, and both blonds smiled. The god/father and son grinned, and opened their arms. Draco and Luna gently hugged Harry, and Sirius, both extremely glad that everything worked out fine.

The rest of the day was spent talking about their past, though certain details about Harry were omitted at said brunet's insistent glare. It seems that everything turned out fine, and that nothing bad had happened, despite the worries of our trio. Now if only telling Remus was over with too…

* * *

**And there we have it! Sirius's reaction! Yay! Wow, this chapter was relatively long, and I had a sudden flash of inspiration and typed it all in one sitting! I resume school/work time/life after January 4****th****, so I don't know when I'll be updating next, but I hope it'll be soon. This story didn't break 100 reviews yet, but I'm hoping this chapter will! Please, please, please, leave some input, I'd really love it! C'mon, I have 103 alerts and five reviews last chapter! Thanks to ****B00kw0rm92, luvindrewfuller, Aealket, Alicia Spinet, and MercurialMind for their lovely reviews!**

**Oh, almost forgot, here are this poll results! Though I'm not sure how to do this…**

**First is Harry/Luna with 38 votes!**

**Second is Harry/Hermione with 23 votes!**

**Third is Draco/Luna with 21 votes!**

**And fourth is Draco/Hermione with 17 votes!**

**Now, I'm not sure how to do this…so I guess you can send me a review with either Harry/Hermione and Draco/Luna, or Harry/Luna and Draco/Hermione. Or you can convince me why these votes would make sense…So, please leave some feedback!**

**The other side pairings are:**

**Neville/Ginny!**

**Ron/Lavender!**

**These parts probably won't be really major though…**

**Well, thanks for reading my story and abnormally long AN, and I hope you all have a wonderful 2010! Please review! ^_^**


	14. Chapter 13

**Hi****ཀ ****We passed 100 reviews!*****Glomps everyone* Thank you!****So many reviews, is it 'cause of the pairing voting? ^_^ Anyways, sorry for the late update****ཀ ****I'm probably the only person that could stab myself with a toothpick and start bleeding…It now hurts to type the letter I…XD Anyways, due to the pairing business, and general chaos, I have come to a decision. This story will not have pairings. However, I will be writing a one-shot with the pairings that came first in the poll, completely associated with this one. You don't have to read the one-shot if you don't want to, or dislike the pairings that came out first. Completely the reader's choice. Gah, I'm itching to write a story based on a challenge, but I want to at least finish book three first…I might stop the story there, and then add a sequel with books four through seven afterwards. Well, just wanted to let my readers know, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: …why are we still doing this? I don't own Harry Potter.**

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Chapter 13

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The rest of the summer went by rapidly…well, they only told Sirius very late into the summer anyways…between sleepovers with the trio, both at the Lovegood house and Grimmauld Place, and lots of various fun things, the trio finally taking a break and releasing the stress from the year with the Chamber and basilisks. Draco, Luna, and Harry spent their time doing what two just turned thirteen year-olds and a twelve-year old should be doing, and had lots of fun doing it. However, the summer had to end, and soon the trio was on the platform of 9¾ with Sirius, waiting for the bright red train to come.

Luna remembered that this was the year Remus Lupin had started teaching at Hogwarts, and Sirius Black escaped from prison. This was also the year that Harry realized that Sirius was his godfather, and the fact the he was framed by Peter Pettigrew, who was working for Voldemort. Now that Sirius was already free, and Pettigrew in prison, what was there left for them to do this year? What would pose as a problem this year? She thought quietly as they waited at for the train to take them to Hogwarts, and frowned slightly as she did so.

Harry put a hand on her shoulder and Draco turned to her. "Everything will be fine. Maybe we'll even get lucky, with Sirius innocent and Wormtail in jail, we won't have to do anythingཀ" exclaimed Harry. "Ever the optimistic one," smirked Draco. "I have a feeling that something has to go wrong this yearཀ It's just not possible that we can have a year as _normal_ teenagers at Hogwarts, however normal that a trio of trouble making wizards and witches, which aren't supposed to exist, can be." Draco replied. "Ever the pessimistic one," teased Luna gently.

"Now, now, there's nothing wrong with thinking on the bright sideཀ" said Sirius. "Be sure to write, and don't get into troubleཀ" "Says Sirius Black, Marauder, who got the most amount of detentions, rivaling James Potter, in Hogwarts historyཀ" teased Harry. Sirius pouted, and whacked Harry on the shoulder gently. "Don't say such things that wound me soཀ" Sirius proclaimed. The trio and Sirius burst out laughing, and a couple of people started staring at them. Harry smiled, he lived for these small moments, surrounded by friends and family.

The train soon pulled into the station, blaringly crimson and loud as always. Sirius waved, and the three time-travelers waved back as they boarded, and the train pulled away from the platform. The large monstrosity slowly drove out of sight, and the trio relaxed into the seats. Soon, the door opened, and a bunch of brown hair was shown. "Hiཀ" exclaimed the Ravenclaw, and the trio waved her in. Hermione smiled happily, and sat down next to Luna. The quartet sat in compatible silence for a few minutes, and Neville soon popped up. "Helloཀ Did you all have a nice summer?" the boy asked. The quartet welcomed him in, and started chatting about their own summers, and what they had done.

Harry suddenly felt a strong sense of foreboding, an extremely familiar sense of foreboding. He glanced to Luna and Draco, and noticed that their eyes were wide too. It couldn't be, flashed through their minds quickly. Sirius was safely at home, who else would be dangerous enough that they would send those monsters into compartments filled with childrenཀ

Draco was the first to snap out of it, and his voice came out in a shushed harsh tone. "Hermione, Neville, Patronuses?" He wasn't hoping for much, but if the sense was anything to come by, the dementors would be here soon, and come on fast. The two other children in the train compartment shook their heads, and Hermione whispered, worried by the trio's odd expressions, "What's going on?" Harry was still sitting there, frozen in shock, one of his few weaknesses, which the trio strove to protect. Luna got up quickly, drawing her wand, "Neville, Hermione, away from the windows, and doors. Stay still, and don't move." The young (sort of…) blonde felt adrenaline rushing through her veins, and blinked slightly at the force of it.

Hermione and Neville weren't really sure what was happening, but experience with their friends told them to quickly follow their directions. They sat huddled together in the middle of the small compartment, and glanced outside the windows and doors nervously. "Harry, Harry, snap out of itཀ" exclaimed Draco shaking his friend. When Harry didn't, he too drew his wand, and waited anxiously. The two blonds could produced strong patronuses, and didn't really need Harry's help, but both of them shuddered slightly at what might happen if Harry sat through the entire attack. Luna still remembered it from her second year, when the dementors attack the compartments, and it made her shudder.

Sure, it wasn't going to be pretty for all of them, but it was Harry who had faced Voldemort in the final battle, and watched most of his friends die. From the time that the trio sensed the oncoming dementors to now, only a few seconds had passed, though it felt like an eternity…

Draco kept nudging Harry, trying to get him to snap out of his daze, but he had to stop as he felt the dementors come closer, and quickly. They'd have to deal with the aftermath, well, afterwards. The door to the compartment snapped open, and all four aware felt a chill ran through them, and shuddered at the horrible feeling being around dementors caused. The soul-sucking creature glided in, and Luna and Draco took a breath in unison. "Expecto Patronumཀ" they yelled out. A wisp of white smoke-ish mist came out their wands, Luna's forming a dove, and Draco's a wolf. Then, suddenly, they vanished. The blonds gasped, why wasn't the spell working?ཀ "Expecto Patronumཀ" yelled the two wielding wands again.

The same results happened; a wisp began to take form, and then died outཀ "Uh, oh," whispered Draco. Luna would've rolled her eyes if they weren't in so much danger. Understatement of the year. The cold sense of dementors began to flood them, and grief filled them, now that the Patronuses were fully gone. It would be of no use to keep casting the spells, especially now that they had no more time. Luna tackled Harry to the back of the compartment, and Draco pulled Hermione and Neville too, who had been sitting there, paralyzed at their first encounter with the Azkaban monstrosities.

Hermione and Neville huddled in the corner, and stared with wide eyes at the dementors. Harry suddenly crumpled into the seat, out cold. Draco and Luna exchanged worried glances, and looked quickly for an escape route. There didn't seem to be one. They both gasped as frightening memories started to overwhelm them.

* * *

_Luna's Mind_

_Luna heard glass break, shattering into tiny pieces, and then nothing…deep frightening nothing, drawing her into a dark abyss…she was seven, her mother ripped from her…_

_The scene changed, and she then found herself dropped into another. The blonde was in a dark damp dungeon, and evil cackling heard in the background…Voldemort's capture of her, before the final battle…_

_The final battle, watching as her best friends crumples to the floor, and Harry staggering back up. _

_She felt like screaming, her worst memories bubbled up from deep within her mind…_

* * *

_Draco's Mind_

_Draco gasped as he felt himself leave the compartment, and braced himself._

_His father, scolding him at the age of five, yelling at him about how he wasn't good enough…_

_His mother, glaring at him angrily after accidently breaking a vase of hers…_

_Coming home every summer and being yelled at for having being bested in grades by Hermione, and generally by Harry…_

_War time memories, the difficulties the trio faced…_

* * *

_Harry's Mind_

_After blanking out on his friends he was dumped into darkness, deep and unforgiving…_

_Like always, he remembered the flashing green light, the pleading of his mother to spare him, and high evil cackling…_

_The eleven years and summers he had spent with the Dursleys, each of them telling him how horrible he was, and how worthless…_

_The horrible deeds Voldemort had committed, and broadcasted through his link with Harry…_

_Watching Ron fall in the weeks before the final battle, and Hermione and Neville during…_

_He felt overwhelmed and whimpered very slightly…_

* * *

Luna gasped as she came out of her painfully induced reverie, and glanced up at a familiar face. "Professor Lupinཀ" she said. Two seconds later, she realized her mistake as her head cleared from the memories. "How do you know him?" asked Hermione, who had not fainted or collapsed, but sat there paralyzed with fear. "Well, um…he….I…" she stammered. Luna was saved from answering by Draco, who too moaned as he was dug out of his mind as the dementors were chased away. The blond blinked, looked between Luna and the professor, and replied, "Sirius Black." "Ooh," Professor Lupin made a sound of understanding. He dug out a slab of chocolate from seemingly out of nowhere, and gave chunks of it to Luna and Draco. They accepted gratefully, and then remembered,

"Harryཀ" exclaimed Draco, and they both abandoned their chocolate in favor of their friend. Draco itched to bring out a potion or two, as well as have Luna cast a few diagnosis and healing charms, but he couldn't with the other three there. Even if they were going to tell the other three sometime this year, they couldn't just spring it on them…like _someone_ had on Sirius…

Luna shook him gently, trying to bring him out of the dementor induced trance. Harry woke with a groan, and pain-filled emerald eyes blinked out of a pair of eyelids. "Luna, Draco?" he croaked out. A look at their mercury eyes warned him not to say too much, and he was reminded of the other occupants. Well, the other occupants he knew were there. As he sat up, he gasped at the other person standing on the other side of the compartment and holding out a square of chocolate. Oh, déjà vuཀ He opened his mouth, shell-shocked, but Luna elbowed him in the side.

"What were those things?" Neville exclaimed, uncharacteristically loud. "We're on the train to Hogwarts, for Merlin's sake, and we got attacked by those floating black thingsཀ" "Dementors," croaked out Harry. "Soul-sucking Azkaban escapees," added in Draco. "Ah." The sound fell from Neville's lips. "Are you all all right?" asked the only adult in the compartments. "Fine, thanks for asking," replied Harry, though his face was still the color of snow.

Luna frowned at Harry, and Draco's eyes gave off a glare. Both spoke volumes, _you're in for it soon_. Harry shrugged slightly, and Remus stood up. "I'm Remus Lupin, and this year's DADA professor. Are you all okay? Have some more chocolate, it helps." He said, as he stuffed more chocolate into their hands. Harry blinked. Why was it that so many people gave him chocolate every time he got hurt? So peculiar…his mind went back to the present. "I'm Harry Potter, and these are my friends Draco Malfoy, Luna Lovegood, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom. Pleased to meet you." "You too, Harry," the professor replied, and an intercom came over the train.

"The train will arrive at Hogwarts in ten minutes, please change into your robes." "Well, I have to go," Remus said, and excused himself quietly. Everyone nodded their thanks and goodbyes, and the girls went outside to change. Robes were slipped on quickly, and shaky hands buttoned Harry's robes. Draco frowned at the sight, and couldn't help but think how chocolate really seemed to help. His hands had stopped shaking moments after consuming it, though he definitely wouldn't mind a couple nights of sleep.

They got off the trains quietly, and the five of them went into a thestral pulled carriage. The five of them were still in quite a bit of shock, and sat through roughly the same speech as the last time around and a feast that the trio couldn't eat much of. Draco, Luna, and Harry all missed the worried glances that Professor Snape was sending them. They were dismissed and led by the prefects into their dorms, and the trio separated from their Ravenclaw and Gryffindor friends.

Our time travelers went to their dorms in the Slytherin dungeons, but none of them could sleep. The three of them finally dug themselves out of bed quietly, and went to the Room of Requirement. The commonly used R of R transformed into the just as commonly used living room of Potter Manor, the manor that Harry had inherited during his coming of age. The second the three of them walked in and the door was fastened securely, Harry was tackled onto the lounge and diagnostic spells quickly fired at him.

"Heyཀ" the emerald-eyed teen exclaimed in protestཀ "Don't I get a say in this?" Draco and Luna glanced and each other, and replied, "No." Harry pouted, and opened his mouth to complain good-heartedly. Draco took advantage of the opened mouth, and poured a potion down his throat. "Mild shock, and panic residue. Calming potion is all that's needed," stated Draco matter-of-factly. Harry choked slightly on the potion, before forcing it down his throat. He pouted again, which was ignored by both. "Are you okay?" asked Luna. "Fine, just a bit shocked," replied Harry. "You both?" "Same," replied Draco.

"Potion?" asked the raven. "I'm fine," replied Luna. "Nothing some sleep wouldn't fix." "Me too," added in Draco, and they all adjust comfortably onto the couch. "What could have alarmed Fudge so much that he ordered dementors into Hogwarts? You all remember how much Dumbledore was against it, and the aftermath. Besides, what would cause as much chaos as Sirius Black, framed betrayer of the Potters and Voldemort's minion?" wondered Harry. "Not sure, though I bet it's another Azkaban escapee, from the dementors. But who?" commented Luna. Draco answered, "I bet you we'll all find out tomorrow in the Daily Prophet. Those people won't let a secret stay a secret, no matter how deep you bury it."

The trio spent next few hours discussing and speculating who it might be, but no one could really guess until tomorrow. They finally snuck back to their quarters, went back to their rooms.

Once back, Draco thought, who could it be? Who'd cause so much pandemonium, as much as when Sirius had broken out? Well, technically this was the first Azkaban breakout in this world, but dementors? Only time would tell. He drifted off to sleep, and sighed at the thought of what would happen the day after…

* * *

The next morning, Hermione Granger stretched as she rolled out of bed in the Ravenclaw girl dorms. The night of sleep was just what she needed after the hassling train ride. The young bookworm wondered how her friends knew Remus Lupin, and how they knew the dementors were coming. The trio definitely was an odd bunch, seemingly always able to sense disaster. Seers? Doubtful, though wizardry and magic was, well, magical and impossible itself. Hermione pondered this thoughtfully as she prepared for the first day back in class, and quickly dressed, before glancing at the clock. Seven forty, later than usual, but she had an excuse after the horrible dementors.

Hermione headed off to breakfast, and entered the Great Hall to find the trio already sitting at the Slytherin table. She waved, and they waved back, Harry between a bite of toast. No wonder, it seemed that her Slytherin friends were always up at impossible hours, though the night before was usually very stressful. Her friends really were odd, she thought as she sat down at the Ravenclaw table, and piled her plate healthily with some fruit and toast with raspberry jam. She hesitated before reaching for some bacon and eggs, feeling like she would need it today, for some peculiar reason…

* * *

Draco, Luna, and Harry had indeed woken up early despite the draining fiasco on the train. Well, Draco and Luna had woken up to Harry on his bed, which was made neatly, fully dressed and reading a book. He smiled brightly at them, and ducked the pillow that Draco had thrown. They had come down to the Great Hall for breakfast, despite the fact that both blonds wanted Harry to sleep more…maybe some food would do them good, after the stressful supper yesterday.

Harry had piled sugary foods (oh, how horrified 'Mione used to be, and probably would still beཀ) like waffles coated with syrup and sugar. Draco had snatched the away, divided it equally between three plates (though that was still a lot for each of them), and added fruit, sausage, eggs, and hash browns, and then gave a plate to each of them. Harry pouted in protest, but obediently took a plate and started eating, remembering how Draco was like in his mother-hen modes. Luna smiled at the antics of her best friends, and ate the breakfast that Draco had dished out nutritionally and thanked him.

Draco waved off her thanks as always, and dug into his own plate. The owl mail soon came, and a copy of the Daily Prophet fell gently to Luna, dropped from the claws of an ebony owl. She glanced at the title page, and gasped. It read: Real Betrayer of the Potters, First Azkaban Escapeeཀ Luna froze in shock…Pettigrewཀ Draco took one look at Luna's shocked face, and took the paper. His eyes flew across the newsprint, and he glared at the portrait of the man that had betrayed the Potters, and caused chaos to his friend's life, willing or not.

Harry didn't like the looks on his friends' faces. Not at all. He held out a hand for the paper, and Draco grimaced before handing it to him. No way. That was the first thought that ran through the Potter heir's mind. How in the world had Wormtail escapedཀ Azkaban security was extremely tightཀ Well, Sirius escaped, but…

Harry sighed, and commented, "At least we know why there were dementors on the train." Luna nodded hesitantly, but wasn't very happy about it, though no one was. The rest of the breakfast passed silently between the three Slytherins, the only sound being sips of pumpkin juice and the sounds of the forks scraping on the plates. The Great Hall cleared up as more students finished their meal, and went off to their first classes of the quarter.

For their third year, students had to take an addition class. And Harry sure wasn't going back to Divination, and the death predicting Trelawney. The trio had agreed to take arithmancy, even though they didn't necessarily need it. Draco, Luna, and Harry mutually agreed that anything was better than divination. During Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid once again brought in Buckbeak. Draco made sure he was always a few paces away from the hippogriff, though he didn't do anything to taunt the creature this time. He still hadn't forgotten the attack, even though it wasn't his fault he was so snobbish the first time around.

Like last time, Buckbeak seemed to take an immediate fascination with Harry, and the raven loved the moments spent with the hippogriff, and cherished them greatly. That night, the trio silently agreed to just go to bed, and they retired to their dorms quietly. Harry had lay on his bed, and contemplated what was to be done about Pettigrew. After all, the reason that Voldemort was revived and Cedric killed the last time was because of Pettigrew's actions. The emerald-eyed teen also wondered about tomorrow's DADA class, and thought about perhaps telling Hermione and Neville about their secret. This was all to be held under meticulous concern, and though he seemed a bit careless and childish at times, Harry was extremely thoughtful when it came to the safety of his friends. He'd do anything for them, and go to any lengths.

On that thought, he turned over and pulled his emerald and silver covers up this his shoulders, and let his emerald-green eyes fall closed.

* * *

DADA class, with Remus Lupin as professor, rolled around the next day. After breakfast (in which Draco took away Harry's sweets again, causing him to pout…) the three of them went to Defense. Harry walked quietly into the classroom, feeling a strong sense of déjà vu. Well, Draco, Luna, and himself were doing this again, so it was normal to feel déjà vu. He still remembered this class, with the Boggarts, and felt extremely nervous of them. What would show up? Would it show Voldemort? Or dementors again? Inwardly Harry knew that that wouldn't be the image if he ever was shown a boggart, but it was nice to not think of the other possibility.

The Potter heir knew that both Luna and Draco were nervous too, wondering what they would see. Our time-traveling trio was hoping that if they dawdled at the back of the room, then perhaps Professor Lupin would never get to them.

The three Slytherins backed up from the chest, and the professor sitting in the front of the room on a wooden chair. The class soon began, and all three were not looking forward to it…

Professor Lupin began the welcoming speech. Most of the parts of the speech were the same, and Harry relaxed throughout the familiar words and voice of his teacher. "And here is my assistant for the year, Sirius Black." What?ཀ Harry choked and started coughing as he toppled out of his chair and onto the floor. Draco and Luna moved to jump up and help Harry up, but Luna stopped herself just in time, and pulled Draco back down with her. Both blonds cast worried frowns at Harry's direction, and they could hear hacking on the floor. Sirius had on a very amused smile, after appearing in from seemingly nowhere.

Harry got back up, and cleared his throat softly. "I'm fineཀ" he said, brightly flashing a smile. His eyes, however, promised serious pain to the recipient, and Sirius shuddered very slightly at the murderous look in the emerald eyes. A flash of a certain red-head with the same eyes, and rather violent temper came into his mind, and Remus smiled slightly. This was going to be interesting.

The class went on, and like last time, Snape had visited. The Slytherin Head of House glared at the Black assistant, and spent the rest of his time glaring at the wall behind Sirius, hoping to avoid glaring at the man himself. Sirius gave a giddy smile, and Lupin gave out instructions about the boggart. Harry, Luna, and Draco drifted to the back of the room when it was time for the hands-on experience, and both Sirius and Severus kept an eye on the trio.

Most of the fears were extremely amusing, and made the trio drifting in the back of the room smile, though a bit hesitantly. This time, however, it seemed as if everyone went through extremely quickly, and soon the only ones left were the trio. "Luna? Would you like to give it a try?" Remus asked. Luna took a small step backwards, and then strode forward slowly, avoiding the worried looks that Sirius, Severus, and the boys sent her. She paused in front of the boggart in the chest, and drew her wand. The mercury-eyed girl waited, and then nodded at Professor Lupin's silent inquiry.

Remus opened the latch and Luna took a deep breath. The boggart floated out, and took the shape of…three shrouded bodies on the floor. It was curious as to why no one could see the faces on the bodies, but both Draco and Harry knew who the people were. They held a breath, and waited for Luna to cast the spell. Quickly, Luna cried out, "Riddikulusཀ" The three bodies jumped up off the ground, and did a happy jig and started to sing…Luna burst out laughing, as she knew who the figures were, and the boggart went back into the box before the figures could say anything.

Draco and Harry breathed a sigh of relief, they didn't want to see what would've happened if the figures actually started to sing, and voiced out. The rest of the class looked puzzled, as well as the three adults, but both boys' eyes were mirth filled, as well as Luna's.

"Well, we don't have any more time for any other demonstrations, but if Harry and Draco want to come by after class and take a try, I'll be free, and in my classroom grading papers." Professor Lupin voiced out after Luna's try. Draco and Harry politely thanked him, but were both inwardly glad at the fact that they didn't have to try. The trio filed out the room, and that night, they met up again in what they found out to be Sirius's quarters.

Harry stormed in, and planted himself in front of his godfather, his two blond companions racing in and trying to catch up to him. "Sirius Orion Blackཀ" Harry protested. "You didn't find enough time to tell us that you would be Remus's assistant for the year? Out of all the time that we spent together this summer?ཀ" Sirius smiled sheepishly, and replied, "I wanted it to be a surprise, so I asked Dumbledore not to tell anyoneཀ And wasn't that a good surprise? You should've seen the look on your face as you tumbled from your chairཀ"

Harry pouted, and Sirius grinned. "You are so onཀ" exclaimed Harry. "You better watch outཀ" Draco and Luna hid grins behind their hands, and Sirius replied, "We'll seeཀ" Harry grinned wickedly, and marched out of the room. "You'd better watch out, Sirius," advised Draco. "The last time Harry declared a prank war, it wasn't pretty," added in Luna. Sirius beamed, and ushered them out.

The rest of the time until break went by rather peacefully, well, except for a few incidents. There was that one including the bright pink dye and flying bottle of lotion…and the one with baby hamsters, colored feathers, and man-eating crayons…and the one with pumpkins, foam, and pixies…_and _the one with bumblebees, hot frying oil, and hamburgers…but who's counting? Let's just say that the time until winter vacation was very _eventful_ between two former Marauders (one of which joined his friend after hearing of the little "war"), a pair of Weasley twins, and our famous (or infamous) trio.

Christmas break rapidly approached, as well as the third years' first Hogsmeade trip, which Sirius had signed the forms for Harry and Draco, and Xenophilius Lovegood for Luna. They were looking forward to the trips to Hogsmeade again, with the butterbeer, candy, and many shops to explore. Harry remembered that the last time they went to Hogsmeade, they met up with Sirius in his animagus form and Harry discovered that the prison escapee after him was actually his father's best friend, and godfather. That little revelation sure did change his life greatlyཀ

The trip was scheduled for a Saturday, and Harry had snuck out of his school (bad, bad, Harryཀ) and gone to Gringotts to get some money for gift shopping. Unbeknownst to him, Draco had done the same, and Luna had saved up the allowance her father gave her. Though they had so close a bond that gifts weren't needed, it was a nice and welcome addition to the holidays. The day that the trio had gone to Hogsmeade together, Draco, Luna, and Harry had agreed to split up for the first half to look for gifts, and join up for the second half to explore together and buy LOTS of candy. (Well, Harry suggested the candy part, and both his blond companions had rolled their eyes at him.)

Luna had gone immediately to the apothecary for potions items. The little blonde knew that both Harry and Draco loved potion-making, and found it to be a hobby of theirs. Though Harry seemed hopeless at it with Snape hovering over his shoulder and begging him to make mistakes, he was much better after the emerald-eyed teen had started making them with the help of Draco.

The two males of their trio had often spent hours in front of a cauldron, and head in books discussing the properties of each and every ingredient. Though Luna wasn't a huge potions person, and only adequate at it, she loved spending time with the boys, and often sat in an armchair and read while they bonded, occasionally adding in comments.

She walked into a small (and surprisingly open) shop, and smiled. Luna looked around, and a young woman with dark red hair and silver eyes walked up to her. "Do you need any help, miss?" Luna smiled at the older woman and nodded. "Yes, could you please tell me if you have anything special that two potions lovers would like?" "Ah," the redhead nodded. "Christmas gift?" the clerk asked. "Yep," replied Luna.

The elder woman led her to parts of the stores, introducing rare and interesting potions ingredients, as well as some equipment for making potions. Luna left with two vials, and two silver ladles, one with a sapphire, and one with an emerald in their hilts. The mercury-eyed girl also went to Flourish and Botts for a book for Hermione and her father, on various mysterious magical creatures, and a small home-y shop for a plant. The small plant didn't look like much, but contained a mysterious poison, and antidote. This was for the herbology loving Gryffindor, Neville.

The Lovegood also entered a candy shop, and bought small bags of mixes of candy for all her friends. Soon, it was time to meet up with her friends again.

* * *

Two blonds and a raven met up again at The Three Broomsticks for butterbeers. They joked around, and smiled happily with each other. All three had finished their shopping, and were all particularly satisfied. "So, what'd you get?" Harry asked his friends. Luna motioned for him to come closer, and then whispered in his year, "Not tellingཀ" Harry groaned, and Draco smiled. "You'll have to wait like everyone else," replied Luna more loudly.

Harry pouted, and both Luna and Draco smirked. "You twoཀ" complained Harry. "You know you love us anyways," retorted Draco. Harry smiled, and put his head down between his arms. Harry glanced from side to side, and then cast a silencing charm on their booth with a slight flick of his wrist. "I'm a bit worried on how nothing has happened yet this year," commented Harry. "Well, next year isn't going to be pleasant, why don't we just enjoy this year?" asked Luna. Draco teased, "Ever the optimistic person, eh, Luna?" Luna blushed, and shoved him in the arm lightly.

"You weren't talking when…" the two bickered playfully, and when Harry was beginning to feel left out, he joined in. This was going to be a LONG day…

* * *

Quidditch games had gone on all throughout the year, but this one would be a big one. Both Draco and Harry were extremely excited, though Luna couldn't see why it was such a big deal. She sighed, and thought, Boys will be boys, no matter how old they are inside. Luna grinned, and both boys rolled their eyes, as if they could hear what Luna was thinking. That morning, it was cloudy and rather grim, and it looked as if it was about to rain.

Luna was wearing a thick gray coat with a white turtleneck, and sitting in the Slytherin stands. This game was against Gryffindor, making her best friends all the more eager to play. Hermione sat next to her, and they huddled against the cold. Hermione had come to support her two friends, and even managed to avoid bringing a book.

Both Draco and Harry were clad in warm Quidditch robes, in their house colors, silver and green. They went out on the field with the rest of their team, and Madame Hooch soon blew the whistle and beckoned them to start the game. The two opposing teams took flight at the same time, and hovered in the air for a second. Then, everything seemed to explode into action, and all the players started shooting around. The Gryffindor seeker flew around, keeping one sharp eye on Harry. Harry let his eyes roam over the field.

The game passed by rather slowly, mostly because of the bad weather. The especially elusive Snitch took a part in it too. Harry caught it ghosting over the scoring hoops once, but it flew away as a Quaffle made its way into the hoop. Gryffindor was soon winning, though with Slytherin closely behind. It seemed that it would all come down to the Snitch.

The Potter seeker calmly sat atop his broom, eyes searching for the elusive Snitch that would win Slytherin the game. Thereཀ He spotted a splash of gold, down by the groundཀ He went upwards, and the gold and crimson clad seeker followed him. Harry climbed up high into the air, and then dived, straight down. Luna gave a small cry of alarm, even sitting from the stands, and narrowed her eyes. Harry James Potter was so in for it when the trio regrouped again. And once Draco knew what happened, Harry would be so dead.

At the last second, Harry pulled a classic Wronski Feint, and went upwards again. The Gryffindor seeker had pulled up long before the raven. Just before Harry reached it, the Snitch pulled up and out of reach. Harry cursed softly, and then flipped back up. The opponent, who had the advantage of being above Harry, just missed the Snitch by what seemed like millimeters, and Harry shot right up to the girl in crimson and gold. The two seekers twirled in what seemed like an intricate dance, and went higher and higher.

Suddenly, Harry heard a commotion in the crowd. What?ཀ A body with a head of blond hair fell quickly from high within the stadium, not as high as the flying seekers had been, but high enough that it would have been near fatal if the body reached the ground. Harry immediately shot after the free-falling blond, and it seemed as if time slowed down considerably.

In truth, it had, as Luna had saw Draco fall of his broom (jinxed?) and cast a levitation charm, which would cause the boy to fall much more slowly than usual, as the momentum made it too hard for the girl to stop Draco's fall completely. The raven on the broom dived down from dangerous heights. Harry had never dived from so high up in the sky, but it was necessary as to reach Draco in time. He felt a flutter of fear, but the pumping adrenaline managed to distract him.

Harry caught him, a mere couple hundred feet from the ground, and pulled up hard. The broom groaned under him, and the teen remembered he wasn't riding a Firebolt. He tucked the older unconscious blond to his body, and did somersaults in the air to slow down his freefall. The world slowed down as the two boys continued to fall, and with what seemed like minutes, the two friends hit the ground, with Harry underneath. He had adjusted them into that position during the short fall, and hoped that this was going to be all right. A thought passed through his head quickly, why did Draco fall? Then he hit the ground, hard, and all faded away to a black and dark nothingness…

* * *

"Ow," whispered Draco as he came to. "What happened?" a hoarse voice asked. He tried to sit up, and was immediately pushed down by a pair of small, light hands. "What in the world were you thinking?ཀ" shouted an irate blonde. Draco winced slightly at the volume, and Luna's eyes softened. "Here," she said quietly. She reached to a side table in the infirmary, and poured a glass of water, adding a straw. Luna gently helped the older blond sit up, and Draco groaned as he felt his sore muscles move.

Luna stuck the straw into his mouth, and he sipped up the cool water gratefully into his sore and parched throat. "What happened?" he asked again, his voice slightly less wispy. "You fell off your broom," replied Luna quietly. Just then Madam Pomfrey bustled in. "Lunaཀ What is it with you and your friends, never telling me when a patient is awakeཀ" she chided. Luna smiled sheepishly, and Poppy sighed. She ran some diagnostic spells over Draco, and told the blonds, "Everything's fine, thanks to a couple of potions and a few spells. Just some fatigue, soreness, and tiredness left over from the injury."

Luna and Draco nodded, and the Healer recommended, "Just let him rest, and Draco will be fine." Draco whispered his thanks, and Luna added in hers. The woman left and the two friends were left alone again. "How did I fall off my broom?" asked a puzzled Draco. "And why is everything during the game coming up blank, after my fall?" "I don't know. One second you were fine, and racing around, and the next you were free-falling down to the ground. And you didn't know what was happening because you were unconscious," replied Luna, rather wryly.

"Oh," answered Draco. "Jinx? Hex?" asked the blond. "Probably, I've never seen you fall off a broom before." It was then that Draco took a good look at his companion. Luna looked rather frazzled, and her eyes were red rimmed. Her hair was in a state of disarray, and she looked rather pale. "Are you all right?" asked the concerned friend. "I'm fine," said Luna, "You should be the one worrying, you're the one who fell from so high upཀ" "Wait, then how am I still alive?" asked a puzzled Draco. "Don't say such thingsཀ" Luna exclaimed as she whacked her friend gently on the arm.

The younger girl sighed, and then gestured her head toward the bed next to him. Draco hadn't even noticed that there was someone there, and was dreading seeing who was in it. A pale figure laid under the white bed covers that the infirmary usually had. Harry was almost as pale as the snow white cover, and didn't look very healthy. Draco groaned, and asked Luna, "What did that trouble making person do this time?ཀ"

"Don't yell at him," scolded Luna. "It wasn't his fault, nor yours, that you decided to sky dive off your broom. If I ever find out who threw that curse…" she trailed off. Draco smiled despite the situation, this was the Luna they all knew and loved. "So, what happened?" "You fell off your broom," repeated Luna, very slowly. "Are you all right?" she asked. "Yesཀ" the boy exclaimed. "I mean what happened after I fell?"

"Harry caught you," replied Luna. Draco raised an eyebrow skeptically, and Luna added in, "Just legilimens meཀ I don't know what to tell youཀ" Draco frowned, lied back down. He gently lifted a hand, and guided Luna's eyes towards his. "Legilimens," he whispered quietly, and soon found himself within Luna's mind. He very carefully brought forth the memory of the Quidditch match, and watched it.

He saw himself suddenly falling from the sky, and Luna cast a levitation charm. Draco saw a raven figure dart to him, and tuck the blond to his chest. He watched as the ground came closer and closer, and how Harry adjusted their positions as to prevent too much damage to the blond, and took the brunt of the fall. He winced and watched unhappily as professors and students swarmed over the two unconscious boys, and Luna following them to the infirmary. Draco grimaced as he gently pulled himself from Luna's mind.

"That…that…" Draco searched for a word. Luna raised her eyebrows, and lifted the covers back onto his body. "Go back to sleep, I'll see you later." "But, but," stammered Draco, searching for an excuse. "No excuses," replied Luna firmly, and pushed Draco back down. "Good night." Draco sighed, but fell asleep quickly soon afterwards.

* * *

The next time that Draco woke up, it was mid-afternoon. The blond felt a bit better, and didn't feel like he'd been run over by the Knight Bus. This time, Luna was lying in a armchair comfortably, looking very peaceably asleep. He smiled, and conjured up a blanket, wincing slightly as he pulled it over the younger girl. Draco looked around, and noticed that Harry was still in the hospital bed, and hadn't looked as if he had woken up during the time Draco was asleep.

Draco sighed, and yanked himself out of bed, walking up to the opposite one. He sat on the bed, very lightly, and looked at the boy. It seems as if the Malfoy had failed Harry again, and he grimaced at the thought. He was supposed to protect the younger of the trio, but it seemed as if Luna and Harry were doing all the protecting. Still, he wondered how the broom had tossed him. Not to be bragging, but Draco was an excellent flyer, and had never fallen of his broom before, even as a young child flying around his home manor.

The boy suspected that he had his broom jinxed, like Harry had his first year. It looked like this year wouldn't be exactly easy, despite his hopes. Draco just wished that they could have a year to just relax, but it seemed impossibleཀ He would just have to cope, and wait out the surprises, and the war itself...

The teen went back to his own bed, hissing very slightly as he moved. Draco lied back down, and pulled up the shockingly white covers. As he gave in the exhaustion, despite the fact he had been sleeping for quite a while, one last thought ran through Draco's mind. Why hadn't Harry woken up yet? Judging by the looks of things, Draco had been unconscious for at least three days...

* * *

Hermione Jane Granger was one extremely determined witch. The brunette knew that something had to be wrong, with all the times that her trio of friends got hurt. She also knew that every year, whenever something big had happened, that Draco, Luna, and Harry would undoubtedly be there. Hermione saw the little things, like how the trio had an exceptionally close bond, how they seemed to disappear at times, how they knew when something would happen. She even saw the smaller things, like the fact that Harry would sometimes glance almost longingly at herself, and even Ron and Ginny, weirdly enough.

The Granger saw how the trio looked at so many things with nostalgic eyes, and she swore she saw Luna's eyes water once at seeing them the first time. This time, when Draco had fallen of his broom, Harry had reacted with surprising speed, and though he was a natural at flying, no one could move that fast and recklessly without practice and experience. She saw how Harry seemed to automatically adjust Draco's body to prevent a hard impact, and how the three of them always knew things that many others didn't.

On the train, how did they know that those scary creatures were dementors? How did they know who Professor Lupin was? Why did the three of them look flustered when Draco, Harry, and Luna were questioned about their pasts? How could they possibly know everything about her? It all seemed so crazyཀ Hermione wanted to know what was happening, and badlyཀ She decided that she would give them until winter break before confronting them.

She sighed slightly, and then returned to her book, a Muggle mystery that she was reading for a bit of fun. Life with the three Slytherins would never be simple.

* * *

Neville Longbottom might not be the brightest lightbulb in a bunch, but even the naive-ish Gryffindor knew that something was peculiar about his trio of friends. Oh, not in a bad way of course, the three of them were the best friends one could have. Neville shrugged mentally, the three Slytherins would tell them when it was time. Luna, Harry, and Draco always did have a way of telling things at weird times...Well, mostly Harry...

_Flashback_

Everything was quiet. Too quiet. Draco, Harry, Luna, Hermione, and Neville were sitting in the third year Slytherin dorms, and all was silent. Harry and Hermione were reading Muggle fiction books, and Draco a wizarding fiction book. Luna and Neville were finishing up some homework, and everything was silent, except for the scratching of quills and flipping of pages. Suddenly, Harry looked up and said, "Did you guys know that I have a birthmark shaped like a fox on the small of my back?"

Luna and Draco choked, and started laughing, while Neville and Hermione stared on in surprise. "Don't...worry...., he....does...that..a.....lot," Luna replied between fits of laughter. Neville blinked and shrugged before going back to his work. Hermione kept staring for a few minutes but soon went back to her book too. Unbeknownst to the others the trio exchanged amused looks...since when had Harry have a birthmark on his back?

_End Flashback_

Neville shook his head indulgently as the memory flashed across his mind, and he grinned. Life could never be boring with his friends.

"Neville!" a voice cried out. "Let's go see Draco and Harry in the Hospital Wing!" Hermione exclaimed. "We haven't gone in a long time!" "We went yesterday night," replied Neville wryly, "but we can go again, I suppose." Hermione smiled, and the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw made their way to visit their friends again.

* * *

As time went by, a week to be exact, Draco felt better and better. More and more worried about Harry, who still hadn't waken up, but physically stronger. Luna stayed by him, alternating between the two boys, and soon Draco was up and ready to go again. Madam Pomfrey was very anxious to see the young raven wake up, as he had been unconscious since the day of the incident, and didn't seem like he was going to be rousing from his slumber anytime soon.

Draco felt extremely guilty, despite Hermione, Neville, and Luna's reverent claims that it was in no way his fault. And Harry slept through it all. Exactly one and a half weeks after the two Quidditch player's fall, and half a week after Draco's physical recovery, Draco had snuck into the Hospital Wing after classes were over. The two blonds in the trio, as well as Neville and Hermione were forced back into classes, as they had been spending all their time in the Hospital Wing with the comatose Harry.

The blond Malfoy sat on a chair next to Harry's bed, and sighed, tucking his blond head in his hands. He was extremely worried for Harry, as though an injury like that would've taken quite awhile to heal from, Harry should've been at least awake by now. Why did everyone insist that it wasn't his fault when it clearly was? Why did everyone tell him that he wasn't to blame, and Harry wouldn't have wanted him to blame himself?

"Because their right," a hoarse voice cracked out. Draco gasped, and lifted his head out of his palms. Harry! Sure enough, he met a pair of blindingly emerald eyes, sleep clouded. Draco quickly reached for the pitcher and glass on the side of the table, and gave a cup of it to the raven in the bed. Harry smiled gratefully, and slowly drank down the water, despite the urge to chug it. The Potter groaned as he tried to sit up, and Draco felt a strange sense of deja vu as he pushed the patient back down.

"No moving until Madam Pomfrey checks you over," Draco commanded. "But then she'll never let me move anywhere, and will force me in bed for the next three months!" complained an indigent Harry. "Too bad," replied Draco, with a smirk. "Hang on..." Draco continued, and looked around to make sure no one was there. He then cast a patronus, and a wolf went out of the Hospital Wing, presumably to find Luna and tell her Harry was awake.

Sure enough, approximately twenty seconds later, all three of their close friends burst into the infirmary. Luna squealed uncharacteristically, and glomped Harry. Harry rolled his eyes, but allowed the younger blonde girl to hug him. "Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. "You're all right!" "Well, of course," Harry replied with a smile. "What did you expect?" he teased. "Oh you," protested Neville happily, and whacked him VERY gently on the shoulder. Still Harry hid a wince (that the blonds could tell he hid and would be confronting him about later...).

"Wait!" exclaimed Luna. "Shouldn't we tell Sirius?" "Gah, not right now!" exclaimed Harry, "He'll kill me!" "Too late," a voice beamed out. Sirius Black walked into the infirmary, and hugged his godson. He had spent a lot of his time in the infirmary with the other raven, and Sirius was extremely glad that Harry had finally woken up. He ruffled the teen's hair, despite Harry's protest that his hair was messy enough without Sirius's help.

The quartet outside the godfather/son trio smiled, and Madam Pomfrey soon burst in with all the commotion. "Honestly!" she exclaimed. "Is it too much to ask that you tell me when a patient wakes up?!" "Yes," replied Harry with a large smile. Madam Pomfrey glared half-heartedly, but she too was glad to see that Harry had awoken. She ran some diagnostic spells on him too, and dumped a potion down his throat. Harry choked on the foul tasting liquid and glared at the Mediwitch. "What was that for?!" Poppy just smiled, and told the visitors, "You'll have to visit later. Mr. Potter here needs his sleep, and we all know he's not going to get it with the five of you in here."

Sirius pouted, "But I'm not even a student anymore! I'm a staff member and you can't just shove me out the door!" Poppy hid a smile at Sirius's antics, and replied, "Well, this is my infirmary, so if I say you're gone, you're gone!" Sirius pouted again, and left with his head hung. Four chuckling children bid Harry goodbye, promised to return soon (Luna and Draco gave him a look that said that they would talk soon), and followed the Marauder out the door. Madam Pomfrey shook her head, and bid Harry goodnight before leaving.

After making sure that his friends, godfather, and resident MediWitch were gone, Harry winced painfully, and lowered himself back onto the bed. "Ow," he whispered quietly. Harry sighed, and tilted his head against the pillow, which smelled like disinfectant and lilacs, an extremely weird mixture. Sleep sounds good, the teen thought to himself, wishing for the blissful feel of unawareness. Harry closed his eyes, and lost himself on the soft feel of the white colored sheets.

* * *

Days passed by, and Harry gradually recovered. Madam Pomfrey kept a sharp eye on him, and refused to let him go anywhere, or let him have any semblance of freedom (or so a complaining Harry thought). Draco and Luna smiled at Harry's antics, understanding quite well how much he hated hospitals, and doing nothing while lying In bed. Hermione and Neville also found this very amusing. Severus, Sirius, and Remus had also dropped by throughout his infirmary stay, but Harry was extremely glad when Madam Pomfrey finally (grudgingly) gave him a clean bill of health and let him out of the "horrible" place.

By that time, it was already early December, and time for the Hogwarts' students and staffs to go on winter break. The trio had agreed on inviting Hermione, Neville, and Remus (which Sirius would take care of) to Grimmauld Place with Sirius's permission. Hermione had asked her parents, and both Mr. & Mrs. Granger had told her that she could. Neville had owl-ed his grandmother, who agreed too. Sirius had asked Remus, and Remus had accepted the invitation with a happy thanks.

Harry had been rushing around ever since he had been discharged from the Hospital Wing, hoping that Luna and Draco wouldn't be able to sit him down and talk to him, which he already predicted to be bad. However, both blonds were extremely stubborn, as stubborn as Harry, and had kidnaped him out of his dorm room one Saturday afternoon. Harry was sleeping (sort of...more like laying in bed and daydreaming but who's being technical?), and suddenly found himself silenced, tied up, and placed under an Invisibility cloak. _His_ invisibility cloak!

He tried to yell and thrash, but two pairs of hands and a sturdy silencing spell refused to let him do anything. Harry was dragged out of his dorm, and out of the Slytherin common room, until he was dropped onto a couch. He meekly opened his emerald eyes to two gleaming pairs of mercury ones, and gulped. "WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME WERE YOU THINKING!" exclaimed Draco. "AND WHY HAVE YOU BEEN AVOIDING US SINCE YOU GOT OUT OF THE HOSPITAL WING?" Harry winced at the volume, and looked pleadingly at Luna.

The Lovegood shook her head and mouthed, "You're on your own." Harry pouted, and Luna closed her eyes, trying to avoid the Pout of Doom™, which was as high on her dangerous list as Harry's special Watering Puppy Eyes of Pleading™, not to mention a horrible combination of them both...

"AND WHY DIDN'T YOU THINK OF A CUSHIONING CHARM ON THE GROUND INSTEAD OF RACING FROM SO HIGH UP AND ALMOST BREAKING YOUR NECK?!!!" Harry swallowed, feeling a lump in his throat. This might take awhile...

"AND..." Harry tried to tune out the piercing voice, but it was impossible. He settled for sitting there quietly, and waiting for Draco to vent his frustrations. Approximately twenty-five minutes later, Draco had finally stopped yelling at Harry, and was taking several deep breaths. Luna, who had stood there, asked the Room for a glass of water, and handed it to Draco. Draco smiled at her in thanks and took a deep sip of it.

"Now! What do you have to say for yourself?" "I'm sorry?" offered Harry. Draco glared, and Harry added in, "And I'm an irresponsible idiot with a hero complex?" Luna hid a grin behind her hand, and thought, Harry always knows how to placate Draco. "Would you like some apple juice? All that yelling can't be good for your throat?" Scratch that. Harry was good at placating Draco _most _of the time. The other fraction, Harry was extremely good at pushing Draco's buttons teasingly.

Draco's eye twitched, and he took the apple juice that Harry was offering with a glare. "Are you all right?" Draco asked. "You didn't look alright when we saw you when you woke up." "I'm fine," replied Harry, with a smile.

Draco hmphed, and sipped the cold juice. "You're sure?" Luna asked. "Yes, I am," answered Harry. Luna nodded, and spoke out, "So we're telling Neville, Remus, and Hermione during break?" "Yes," said Harry. "They deserve to know." Draco added in, "I suspect that at least Neville and Hermione suspect us already. Hermione always was insanely smart, and Neville perceptive."

Luna and Harry nodded in unison. "All right then, winter break." the only brunet said. "Could this be better than telling Sirius?" asked Harry. The two blonds exchanged glances, and then replied, "Most likely not," with a smile. Harry sighed, but nodded.

"Oh, and, did you have to kidnap me out of my bed? I would've come with you without all this drama!" Draco and Luna replied mirthfully in unison, "No you wouldn't." Harry grinned, and replied, "You're both right, as usual." They laughed, and snuck back into their dorms for a night's rest.

* * *

The first day of the break, all three of the trio woke up bright and early. Harry literally bounced to breakfast, with two smiling friends behind him. They ate breakfast, quickly and joined up with Sirius. The plan was for Sirius, Remus, and the trio to head to Grimmauld Place, and Hermione and Neville would join them later on, about a week and a half into vacation.

This suited all members involved just fine, and so Luna, Draco, and Harry were sitting in an compartment. "This is going to be one long winter break," commented Draco. Luna grinned, and Harry's eyes twinkled brightly with mirth. After awhile of sitting in quiet companionship, it was time to get off to train. They met Remus and Sirius at the station, and both bid them hello. "This winter break is going to be great!" exclaimed Sirius. Harry silently agreed. This would be the first Christmas that he spent with Sirius. Before, Sirius was either in Azkaban, on the run, or gone.

This time, it was going to be different. The five of them had used the floo, though all three of the trio knew how to apparate. Besides, they didn't have their licenses in this world, despite the fact that they had the skill. Harry had also taken to avoiding portkeys as much as possible, after the last few experiences that the raven had had with them.

Grimmauld Place was under Fidelius, and also had several charms that prevented anyone from portkeying in. Though Draco, Sirius, Harry, and Luna could, Remus had not been keyed into the fireplace yet, since Sirius had not had the time to go back and tend to the place. The group of five floo-ed into a magical restaurant, cleverly hidden, and then walked the five blocks to the Black ancestral home.

Harry felt a slight twinge in his chest, a rather uncomfortable reminder of the Quidditch incident. His face twisted oh so slightly, but Draco and Luna noticed anyways. They frowned, and Harry put a hand to the side of his neck in an act of embarrassment. Soon, the small group had reached the gloomy porch of the large house. Sirius whispered a charm, and a password, and the front door opened.

"We're home!" Sirius proclaimed in a merry voice. Harry grinned at his giddy godfather, and walked into the house with Luna and Draco in tow. "Let's go unpack, and meet up in the living room afterwards!" said Sirius. The four others agreed, and they headed upstairs. They only had four liveable rooms so far (Sirius hadn't gotten to cleaning them yet, and forbid the trio from entering any of the rooms for fear of dark objects, despite their vehement protests), so Draco and Harry would be rooming together, while Luna had Harry's room and Remus slept in the guest room. The trio wouldn't have minded sleeping in the same room, as they had done worse when on the run from rogue Death Eaters, but that wasn't needed.

Luna went to unpack in Harry's room, which had an empty drawer that she could put her stuff in for the visit. Harry had left his trunk next to the bed that he had conjured up next to Draco's. Both of the boys had stuff they could wear back in their rooms, so they didn't bother unpacking their school wear. When Harry had gotten in, he had met Draco's mercury gaze. "Uh oh," he whispered quietly to himself. "Uh oh is right," replied a steel edged voice. Harry could tell that Draco wasn't really murderous, but extremely angry. The silver-gray eyes still had their tinge of kindness in them, which wasn't present if Draco was furious, like the time he had been kidnaped by Death Eaters.

"Turn over," commanded the blond, pulling out his potions kit as well as several different salves. "But Dray!" protested Harry. "And don't use that ridiculous nickname!" Harry pouted, but obediently turned his head into the pillows. He could feel the silver gaze at him, and Draco's voice asked, "What hurts?" "What do you mean?" asked Harry, in a perfectly innocent voice. Too innocent... He turned back onto his back, and gazed up at the older boy.

"You know perfectly well what I mean!" barked the voice. Harry sighed, and replied, "Nothing, just a bit sore." "What you define as a bit sore means pain!" snapped Draco. "Now tell me what hurts so I can fix it!" Harry sighed again, but told the blond, "Everything's a bit tender, and my ribs are sort of sore." Draco nodded, and began the brunet's examination and treatment...

* * *

**And that's a wrap! Wow, that was over 10,000 words, and almost twenty pages! My record! Anyways, this chapter was actually written over a span of three weeks, and I finally finished it up today. The ending is a bit abrupt, but I'll pick it back up next chapter. On a quick note, my other word program died on me, so I had to use a different one about halfway through. Let me know if you see anything different, though you shouldn't...I hope you all like it, it's my longest chapter by a long stretch! Please review? Please? I hope you're all enjoying my story, bye! ^_^**


	15. Chapter 14

1**Hi! I'm writing this chapter right now, as I have no internet access, and hence, no Fanfiction reading to distract me...However, because I have no Internet right now, I might have to post this later than planned. Well, wish me luck in getting this published quickly! On the bright side, or not bright side...I have become obsessed with Shugo Chara, and the pairing Nagihiko/Amu..so I've written prologue to a story with that pairing. Check it out? If anyone knows any good fics with that pairing, please let me know! ^.~**

**Disclaimer: …why are we still doing this? I don't own Harry Potter!**

* * *

Chapter 14

* * *

Draco made a sound like a tut in the back of his throat, and frowned. Harry winced at the sound, but kept his face in his arms, unmoving. "Done," announced the stubborn blond, to his equally stubborn brunet friend. Harry nodded in thanks, and Draco waved off the thanks and nodded. "Now, why didn't you tell Luna or I that you were still uncomfortable?" demanded the older boy. Harry shrugged, not looking up at the mercury eyes, and replied, "I didn't want you both to worry." "Well that worked out well," bit back Draco sarcastically.

"I'm sorry," murmured Harry, regret truly shining through the emerald green eyes. Draco softened, and nodded. "Next time," here Draco murmured under his breath, "It'd be too much to hope for no more incidents like this, especially concerning Harry," "let us know, ok?" Harry answered rather sheepishly, "Sure."

Draco nodded in acceptance, and voiced out, "Stay here, I'll go help whoever's making lunch." Harry pouted, and answered, "But I want to help!" A Malfoy Glare™ silenced the protesting teen, and Harry sighed before lying back into bed. Draco eyed the boy on the bed warily, before heading off towards the direction of the kitchen. Said boy was silent for around a minute, before Harry propelled himself out of bed. The salves, potions, and medicines that Draco applied or had him take had really helped, and he couldn't feel much pain. Harry smiled, and walked over to his trunk. He brought out a small pouch, royal blue with silver trims on it.

Harry sat on the bed, carefully lifting out a long cloth. It looked unimpressive at first, yet with a murmured spell, transformed completely. The previously dull black cloth was now completely iridescent shade of a mix of cerulean blue. It seemed completely ordinary, but the design was very elegantly cut, and was beautiful. In addiction, the edges were trimmed in silver, and had runes along the edges. Embroidered in silver, were runes of health, protection, happiness, safety, and various other things of that matter. The silver matched perfectly with the stunning yet subtle shade of blue, and Harry smiled as he felt the soft and supple material. He smoothed out the edges, and held it up. It was a cloak, with a hood, covering the head and neck. The material trailed down to the mid-calf in a flowing manner, and it looked like a lot of time was put into it.

Harry refolded the cloak, and brought out another, with the same material and design, though in dark purple and silver trim instead of blue. The runes looked like they were barely started on this one though. Harry sighed worriedly, and pulled out a needle already threaded with the strong silver trim. Closing his eyes briefly, he set off to work, gently needling in the runes, the needle flying in and out of the cloth. This _had_ to be done soon, or it wouldn't be done in time for Christmas...

* * *

Meanwhile, the other members of the house were making lunch, which consisted of sandwiches with tea and lemonade, simple but delicious. As Luna put together an egg and cress sandwich, she wondered what Harry was doing. It was unlike to lay in bed, unless he was spelled and tied down, and even then he would find someway to escape. Once, Draco and herself had bound the boy to a bed after Harry not sleeping for a week, and walked into the living room to find him there again. Needless to say, Draco hadn't been very happy with Harry...

Luna tilted her head to look at Draco, and the blond looked at her, before shaking his head. He would tell her later. Luna nodded slightly, before making another sandwich, this one ham and cheese. She would find out soon.

* * *

When the sandwiches, lemonade, and tea were finished, Sirius had volunteered to go and get Harry to come downstairs for lunch. Remus, Luna, and Draco had agreed, and went outside in the backyard to set up. It was bright and sunny outside, the perfect day for an outdoor lunch, and perhaps some Quidditch. Sirius climbed the stairs quickly, and knocked at the door of his nephew's room, where Harry had taken up residence for the rest of Luna's stay. Which reminded him, he really had to clean up the other million rooms in the house.

"Harry?" Sirius called out. He heard a bit of a gasp, before some shuffling. "Yes?" his godson's voice replied. "Time for lunch, the others are waiting for us!" "Coming!" Harry replied, and some more shuffling was heard. Half a minute later, the door opened, revealing Harry. The teen smiled, and together they made their way to find the others.

Luna waved from her spot on a lawn chair, underneath a big umbrella that covered a garden table, which was laden with sandwiches and drinks. Harry smiled back, and with a look to Sirius, bounded towards his friends. Catching Draco's disapproving eye, he slowed down, walking at a slightly more sedate pace to the table. Luna pulled up a lawn chair, and Sirius, who had ran after Harry, pulled up another one. Sirius sat down, and Harry distributed iced tea and lemonade to all sitting at the table. All five of them picked up a plastic plate, and a few sandwiches, before starting to eat. "Yum!" exclaimed Harry childishly, and Draco grinned at him.

The sandwiches and beverages quickly disappeared, and Sirius suggested, "Do any of you want to play Quidditch?" Harry and Draco both wanted to, racing back to their rooms to get their brooms. When they got back, Sirius had two brooms, one for himself and one for whoever else wanted to join. Draco and Harry persuaded Luna to join them, and she did so hesitantly. She wasn't the best at flying or Quidditch, though she wasn't horrible on a broom.

Sirius and Luna teamed up together, and they spent the rest of the evening playing. Sirius even got Remus to play a bit, though flying wasn't exactly Lupin's forte. It was lots of fun, and even Harry forgot his worries for the day.

* * *

That night, after dinner, everyone retired to their rooms earlier than usual, after a long day having fun outdoors. Remus and Sirius bid everyone goodnight, before returning to their various rooms. Luna yawned, and agreed with the two adults' examples, wishing her friends goodnight before heading off to her room. Draco dragged Harry to bed after cleaning up and taking their showers, and told the brunet to go to sleep. Harry nodded, and lied down without protest, which should've set alarm bells off in Draco's head. However, even the blond was tired after a long day, and nodded before treading to his bed to sleep.

Draco nodded off before long, and Harry was waiting in his bed the whole while...

As soon as Draco's breathing evened out, Harry lightly turned over, silently conjuring his pouch, with the two cloaks and several other trinkets inside. Glancing over at the sleeping blond, Harry wondered if he could actually pull this off. All three of the trio were ridiculously light sleepers, courtesy of time on the run, especially Draco. But no, he had to work, or he won't finish by Christmas, which was just a week away.

He grasped the bag, and tiptoed to the door. Just as he was about to open it, a groggy voice spoke. "Where are you going?" "Just going to get something to drink, I'll be right back," replied the brunet gingerly, and closed the door quietly. Harry let out a breath he hadn't realized that he had been holding, and hoped that Draco fell back asleep soon, as to not wonder why Harry was taking so long just to get a drink.

The Potter made his way down the stairs slowly and quietly, and stepped to the kitchen. Harry made himself a mug of coffee, hoping that it would keep him awake enough to finished the runes. He sipped the coffee precariously, before opening to pouch, and pulling out the three fifths finished cloak. Harry pulled out the threaded needed, and began again...

* * *

The next morning, Luna made her way downstairs, hoping to make some breakfast for the rest of the members of the house before they woke up. When she reached the kitchen, she let out a yelp. Taking a few deep breaths, she realized that the figure lying on the dining table was just Harry, who was looking quite endearing, laying there with this head in between arms. On second thought, why exactly was Harry lying on the kitchen table asleep anyways? All that was there was a used mug...Harry woke up to drink milk and fell asleep?

All this ran across her mind in seconds, and soon afterwards, she heard someone rushing down the stairs. "Luna!" exclaimed a worried Draco, "What's wrong?!" Luna replied, "Sorry about that, I was just shocked to see this." She pointed at the teen in the chair, and Draco sighed. "I heard him walk out of the bedroom yesterday, but he said he went to get a drink. Perhaps he fell asleep halfway through? Luna nodded, and together they levitated the brunet back into bed, Draco pulling covers up to Harry's shoulders. The blonde told Draco to clean up, or go back to sleep if he liked. Draco brushed his teeth, and did other morning rituals before joining Luna downstairs. Halfway through making a breakfast of blueberry pancakes with eggs and sausage, Remus appeared. "Good morning," the man murmured, and the two teens in the kitchen replied the greeting. "Do you need help?" asked Remus. "We've got it, we're almost done," answered Luna, whisking some eggs. "Ok, then," replied Remus, sitting down at the dining table.

Draco and Luna dished out the food, and Remus volunteered to go and get Sirius. Five minutes later the table was set, with pitchers of coffee, milk, and juice, and Sirius had finally wobbled downstairs, yawning. "Looks great!" complimented Sirius, upon seeing the meal that the two blond friends had made. Draco and Luna accepted his compliment with a grin, and Draco went to go see if Harry was ready to wake up yet.

As he climbed the stairs, he wondered why his instincts were telling him that Harry hadn't just been up for a drink, and fallen asleep. Wait, what was in that mug again? It didn't look like milk...in fact, it look like coffee! Draco started glaring at the nearest thing, which just happened to be an animate glass vase (why the Blacks had one, Draco did not know...) which had burst out crying and run away at the sight of the infamous glare of the Malfoys. Draco winced, and turned around, hoping that no one would notice the crying vase....

He walked over to the room that he was sharing with Harry, and opened the door a crack. Inside, Harry was lying as still as a board, sleeping peacefully. Absentmindedly, Draco wondered how long that Harry had stayed up the night before, to be this sound asleep. He berated himself for not noticing Harry's odd behavior last night, though it wasn't that easy to tell. Draco sighed, and closed the door, planning on saving some food for the brunet in bed. Apparently the talk that they had hadn't stuck in, if Harry was still neglecting his health.

Draco couldn't help but worry about the younger brunet, as much as they had quarreled with each other the first time around Hogwarts. During the war, Draco had helped his godfather, Severus, with spying for the Order of Phoenix. After the war with Voldemort had ended, and most everyone was dead, Draco had heard that Harry, as well as a few select others, had secluded themselves, despite winning. The blond had sought out his childhood rival, and they had reconciled after Harry learned of the efforts that Draco had put into helping the Order during the war.

Harry had never really hated Draco to begin with, though there had been a bit of a rough rivalry, yet the soon became best friends, trustworthy in every aspect. Draco learned more about the "Golden Boy," and about what the brunet had gone through. He discovered that Luna was living with Harry, with her father dead, and trying to help her friend come through the losses of his friends, while dealing with her own. Luna had greeted him with a happy smile on her face, as if she had known that he was on their side all along. To this day, Draco didn't know what was going through her head that day.

Soon afterwards, Draco moved in, upon Harry's insistence, and they bonded, the three that became the trio known today. However, the somewhat peace that they had achieved was broken soon afterwards. Harry had discovered that some Death Eaters had indeed escaped, and were trying to continue the "master's" reign of terror, antagonizing many people, and even killing some. Harry, "hero" as he was, insisted on getting rid of those evil-doers too, and both his blond friends persisted in going with him.

So, the trio left the comfort of the Potter Manor, packing lightly, and went Death Eater hunting. The three of them found themselves on the run from these rogues often, hopping from place to place as to avoid being discovered by these criminals. Though none of them were as formidable as their "master," some of them were rather difficult to dispose of. There had been a few close calls, that still haunted the memories of all of those that experienced it.

Soon, three months had gone by, and the three had formed an unbreakable bond of friendship and trust. Draco, Luna, and Harry relied on each other, and the Death Eaters that had escaped justice had slowly dwindled down. However, with only a small group left, Harry had been kidnapped right under their noses, buying food incognito one day. Draco and Luna were completely in panic, and for the first few hours, not being able to think clearly.

Luna pulled it together though, and the two of them searched desperately for their lost friend. Harry was lost for five months. Luna and Draco searched and searched, and in the end, found that Harry had been taken by a group of Death Eaters who had banded up after hearing of the infamous three, and the fates of their fellow members. The group of people had actually even recruited some followers, wizards and witches who secretly believe that Voldemort's goal was plausible, however few that may have been.

Draco had wanted to immediately storm their hideout, but Luna reminded him that they had at least twenty people inside of the stronghold, and that there was no way that the two of them, even if Harry was included, could possibly take all of them out. It would be at least ten to one, with the disadvantage on their side. Draco reluctantly agreed, not forgetting the promise that he had made to Harry almost a year before, on how that the blond would always stick with the younger teen.

And so the two of them planned, thinking of ways to defeat the number of people inside, surviving outside and hiding from all who wished to disrupt their quest. The two blonds planned escape routes, how to stop a lot of them from swarming the duo in sheer number, and various other things. Exactly three weeks after Luna and Draco had found where Harry was being hidden, they carried out the long thought out plan. '

The two of them breached the tight security, with a spell that Luna had spent days upon days researching and designing, trapping the guards in bodies that performed actions as expected, without being able to do anything themselves. It was a rather horrifying spell, and Luna didn't wish to ever use it for wrong reasons again. The duo team made it past surveillance, and even almost got all the way in. However, some unexpected surprises had occurred that they had not planned about when inside the building.

It appeared that not just the twenty, plus guards, that Draco and Luna estimated were in there. After making it inside, the two of them realized that they were greatly outnumbered, more than they had prepared for. Getting to Harry would be the easy part, getting all of them out alive would not be as easy. Still, Draco was out of patience with all of the waiting, and against all his Slytherin instincts, had rushed in headfirst brashly. Luna ran right after him, though a bit more cautious. Miraculously, the two of them had avoided all the guards to Harry's cell, even though it was one of the most well protected areas of the building.

Draco had opened the cellar door with a strong unlocking spell that he had learned from his insane aunt as a child (he would have never thought that Aunt Bella's teachings would have been valuable in any sense whatsoever). Two blonds barged in, and both were shocked at the state of their friends. Luna had placed a charm that froze Harry's condition at where it was, and the rest was up to the two blonds. They had to get out of there, and fast.

Battling their way out, the two conscious ones of the trio finally made it, against all odds. Two injured blonds levitated a heavily wounded Harry back to their camp, where they had all been unconscious for days afterwards. Luna was the first one to wake (feeling quite horrible), and after drinking some water and eating a granola bar, started on healing injuries that would prevent her from working on the others. She then took care of Draco's injuries, suspecting that they would need both of their skills as to bring Harry back to a stable condition.

The blonde patched up Draco's wounds carefully, before tipping some water down the blond's throat. With Harry in homeostasis, he would not need any water. The charm that Luna used basically stopped anything from going wrong with Harry, and froze him. Luna sighed, and laid down on her sleeping bag, wondering sadly if Harry was to be okay.

After the incident, Harry had recovered, with a few bumps along the road. One day, when Harry was being quite depressing and not even coming out of his bedroom, Draco had sat down with him for hours, with the door to Harry's room closed. Luna understood that they needed to talk things out, and had not interrupted them. Several hours later, Draco had crept out of the room, and told her quietly that Harry was asleep. There was an odd closeness between the two ever since, and Draco seemed to mother-hen the younger male more after their talk.

Draco snapped out of his reverie in answer to Luna's call from downstairs, asking him what was taking so long. The blond replied over the staircase, telling her that he'd be right down. Draco closed the door to Harry's room, and continued his way to eat breakfast with his guardian, friend, and guest.

* * *

The first thing he thought of was why that the ceiling was a royale blue. Wasn't it usually white in the Hospital Wing? The second coherent thing that went through his mind was that the blankets were soft, and the room smelled of Draco. "Uh oh..." Harry whispered as he came to. The young man opened his eyes, and peered across the room. Wait! Draco wasn't anywhere in the room! That meant that he hadn't done something "Gryffindor-ish" that would cause Draco frustration and anger, enough to be sitting by his bedside. "That's good," whispered Harry, still a bit unaware of what was happening.

Then, he remembered the cloaks, and the coffee, and the fact that he knew that he hadn't gone to bed himself. That was peculiar..."Still in bed?" drawled out a voice from the corner. Draco. Harry winced, and tugged himself into a sitting position again. "Hi?" said Harry, rather lamely. "You've been sleeping for five more hours than normal. It's one o'clock right now," the voice replied. "Eh heh..." murmured Harry sheepishly.

Just then, the door to Draco's room opened, and Luna appeared, holding a tray with leftover breakfast and lunch assortments (which was simply some hot dogs with condiments) with a glass of apple juice perched next to it all. Harry looked at his younger friend like she was an angel sent to save him, and Luna couldn't help but grin at his expression. "I figured that you could use something to eat, and I could save you from Draco's wrath while I'm at it." Looking at his hopeful eyes, she added, "Not that I approve of whatever you did. You do deserve Draco's chiding. I might add some of my own while he's at it."

Harry rubbed his neck, blushing a bit. Luna gently plopped the tray on his lap, and told him, "Sirius and Remus went out today, I insisted on them doing some catching up together without us. After all, it's not like we can't look after ourselves." Harry nodded, and Draco added in, "Eat." in a rather sharp voice. Harry meekly picked up his fork, and put scrambled eggs in his mouth.

"Now what were you doing last night, exactly?" questioned Luna. "Nuthin'" murmured Harry between bites of food. At two pairs of staring mercury eyes, he revised his answer, "Just some unimportant things..." Not that that was really much of an difference.

Luna continued updating Harry on the news, as the brunet tried to ignore staring silver eyes that seemed to penetrate into his soul. Not that Harry had really been asleep _that_ long...

"It seems that Neville and Hermione shall both be available next week, for weekend sleep overs. I've cleared it with Sirius, and he'll help us break it to Hermione, Neville, and Remus then, ok?" Luna recited. Harry smiled, and nodded at her, and she grinned back. "Let's leave the talking to us this time around, eh?" teased Luna. "Wouldn't want to give them all a heart attack, would we?"

Harry chuckled sheepishly, and turned to Draco. "Sorry?" he offered. Draco glared at him for a moment, but nodded anyways. No one could really stay mad at Harry for a long time, it seemed to be a gift of the brunet teen's. Not that Draco automatically forgave him immediately...

"Now finish your breakfast!" said blond snapped, and Luna hid a grin behind her hand. Things were back to normal, for now.

* * *

**Not too long here, but shows quite a bit of history, about the trio, and also a more assertive Luna! I still don't have Internet access, and not having the Internet for more than three minutes a day is quite hard, XD I think it's killing me, ^.~ Ah, anyways, the next chapter should be breaking it to the Neville, Remus, and Hermione (that'll be interesting to write!). I'd really appreciate reviews! They'll cheer me up in my Internet-less world, XD Review? Oh, and please check out my new story! I don't have a title for it yet (they usually don't come to me until halfway through my story), but it's a Shugo Chara fic, with the pairing Nagihiko/Amu. Check it out, and review? Thank you all for reading! ^-^**


	16. Chapter 15

**Um...sorry? I really am sorry for the long time between updates! I've been a bit sick lately, just a cold, but it made me feel quite horrible...I've finally had time to finish the chapter. Thanks for all the reviews, I really enjoyed reading them! So, with no more interruptions, chapter 15!**

**Disclaimer: You know, this really puts a dampener on my mood. I don't own Harry Potter. There. **

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Chapter 15

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"Come in, Hermione," exclaimed a beaming blonde girl, waving her friend into the Black Ancestral home. Hermione Granger had been given the address to Grimmauld Place in advance, so that the Fidelius charm on the house would not deter the shy bookworm. "Hello, Luna," greeted Hermione. She held up a box of some sort, and told her friend, "My mother had me bring a cake she had baked, as thanks."

"Thank you," smiled Luna, taking the box from Hermione's hands. "Now, come inཀ" Hermione hesitantly stepped into the house. "The boys are in the living room, and Neville should be coming by floo soon," explained Luna. "Care to join them? I'll come by after I place this cake in the refrigerator."

As if on cue, Harry walked into the front hall, and took the pastry from Luna. "I'll take this, and welcome Neville. Go and relax with Hermione, Draco, and Sirius, Luna." Luna asked, "Are you sure, Harry?" "Yep, go ahead." Luna nodded, and tugged gently on Hermione's arm. "Come onཀ" Harry smiled at Hermione and said a, "Hello," before heading down another hall. Luna took Hermione's bag, putting it on the floor. Hermione then followed her blonde friend, and together they made their way to where Draco and Sirius were waiting.

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Harry peered into the box, and smiled. The emerald-eyed teen was sure that it was Hermione who had baked the cake, and not Mrs. Granger. The sweet lady was incredibly kind and caring, but couldn't bake something to save her life. Despite that, Mrs. Granger was one of the nicest people that Harry had the pleasure to meet, and he did miss the times, though few, that Harry had met her.

As Harry pondered into his thoughts, he brought the cake into the kitchen. It seems that he wouldn't be making dessert today, as he had planned...As he put the pastry into the fridge, he heard a doorbell like sound that came from the floo whenever someone wished to travel in. Harry quickly rinsed off his hands, and then walked to the receiving room, where the fireplace was located.

From it (Harry had keyed in the Longbottoms beforehand) was Augusta Longbottom, followed by her grandson, Neville. "Welcome, to Grimmauld Place, Madame Longbottom, Neville," Harry greeted. Though it had taken Draco quite a bit to drill "pureblood" manners into him, it was done. Draco had warned him how aristocratical some of the heads of those families were, and Harry wasn't sure if Augusta Longbottom fell in that category.

"Hello, pleasure to meet you," returned Augusta. "Neville, say hi to your friend." Neville gave a mumbled greeting, clearly intimidated by Augusta, and Harry smiled, "Hello, Neville." "Well, I shall be going," Augusta proclaimed. As she turned around, she looked at Harry seriously, her eyes softening a degree. "Take care of Neville." Harry smiled, and Augusta Longbottom stepped back into the floo.

"Hello, Neville," greeted Harry, a moment after the boy's grandmother had left. Neville was still rather red, but he managed to muster a smile and talk to Harry. "Everyone else is here, and in the living room. Let's join themཀ" Harry exclaimed, dragging the boy by the arm to the living room, throwing his bag on the floor.

"But, what about my bag?" asked Neville. "Don't worry about it, we can get it later," insisted Harry, who continued tugging on the slightly older boy's sleeve. "Fine, then," replied Neville, who then followed Harry. When they reached the living room, everyone was sitting on the lounges around the coffee table. "I found pudding in the fridge, along with iced coffee, so I served itཀ" explained Luna. "Speaking of which, where did the pudding and ice coffee come from?"

Harry blinked, and replied, "Well, that was for tea...I made it this morning, before breakfast." "Ah, that explains itཀ I thought it tasted like your puddingཀ" smiled Luna. "Now explain why you were up so early, making food? You were in bed when I got up..." trailed off Draco. Harry chuckled sheepishly, before sitting on the lounge where Luna and Draco were occupying. Neville also took a seat, next to Hermione, leaving Sirius and Remus on another.

The group of seven exchanged greetings, and Harry happily suggested, "How about Quidditch?" Most of the room immediately shook their heads, until the only people who actually wanted to play were Sirius, Draco, and Harry himself. Everyone else was contented to watch, sunbathe, and talk, so they headed off towards the backyard and gardens.

Harry and Draco rushed upstairs to get their broomsticks, and Sirius and Luna led the group outside. Only when all three were in the air, did Draco realize (and he was the first to...), "How are we supposed to play a Quidditch game with three people?" Harry solved their dilemma by suggesting racing. Though most were against it (Draco most vehemently, though he too wanted to race...), the three of them did race. Harry had come in first, with Draco a second behind him, and Sirius mere moments later. Sirius had pouted that it was because both of them had Firebolts, which were yet to be fully invented.

This comment had earned a few curious looks, and Draco had whacked Sirius over the head...the group of friends spent the rest of the day playing in the summer sun, and surprisingly Harry was the first one to go in. The brunet had said that he was a bit worn out, and though all of them wanted to go back with him, Harry insisted on them staying. It was still three hours until dinner, and Harry told that he would be fine, before disappearing back into the house.

Though the remaining people were a bit worried, most dismissed it as a bit of fatigue. Draco and Luna were quite distressed, but Sirius convinced them to stay outside, according to Harry's wishes. And so the blonds reluctantly agreed.

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Inside the house, Harry walked quietly to the room that Draco was going to share with him. With so many people, and the lack of useable rooms, most everybody was going to double up, with the exception fo Neville. Draco was sharing with Harry, Luna with Hermione, and Sirius with Remus. Harry couldn't help but think that they really should get all those other rooms clean...more pointedly, Sirius should, since he had forbidden them entry.

Sitting down on the bed, Harry once again pulled out the cloak that he was working on for Luna, weaving the silver thread in complicated patterns through the violet colored cloth. Christmas was just three days away, two of which would probably be spent consoling the three that were to be told the trio's secret. The emerald-eyed teen stifled a small yawn, and continued working.

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Hermione bustled around the Black kitchen, helping Luna, Sirius, and Remus. "I'm going upstairs to check on Harry," Draco had declared as soon as they got back into the house, and Neville had been prevented from doing anything after he dropped the third egg. Sirius and Luna had tried to prevent the three of them from doing anything, but all three guests had insisted, and Luna finally relented.

Lasagna, salad, cream corn soup, and garlic bread sticks were on the menu, so Hermione was tossing the salad with a raspberry vinaigrette that Luna said Harry had prepared beforehand. Luna was working on the elaborately designed lasagna (which she admitted was overly so, but really fun to make). Remus was preparing the soup, with a base that Luna had handed him, saying that Harry had kept those on stock. When Sirius had asked Luna what he should do, she replied, "Finish the bread sticks." "What bread sticks?" Sirius asked.

"I didn't make any bread sticks yet," he continued. "They're on the counter, under that cloth," she replied. "What?ཀ Where did they come from?" "Harry had put them there to rise, so just stick them in the oven," answered Luna. "Okay, then," he replied, popping them into the oven.

Soon afterwards, the food was prepared, and the table was set by Neville, who insisted on doing something, as he hadn't participated in cooking the meal. Luna had agreed (she seemed to be in charge of those things, at least when Harry was absent), and the teen gingerly set out plates, bowls, forks, spoons, knives, and glasses. "Where's Harry and Draco?" asked Neville, after a moment's hesitation. "They've been gone a long time."

"Harry probably fell asleep, and Draco's too much of a mother-hen to wake him. I'll go get them," answered Luna. "I'll go, then, Luna. You've been working at the dinner for quite awhile," suggested Hermione. "You have too," reminded Luna. "But, if you want to get them, I won't stop you," the blonde continued. Hermione nodded, and climbed the stairs to find her friends.

She knocked gently on the door, and heard a quiet, "Come in," sound from inside. Hesitantly stepping into the room, Hermione found herself in front of a dozing Harry and a worried looking Draco. "It's time for dinner," Hermione whispered back. Looking at Harry, she asked, "Is he alright?" "Probably," Draco replied. "Looks a bit like some fatigue, some food and rest will do him good." Hermione nodded, and then asked him, "Shall we wake Harry, then? Get some soup and lasagna into him."

The blond nodded, and told her, "Go ahead and head downstairs. I'll come with him in a minute." Hermione hesitantly agreed, and closed the door gently behind her. As she made her way downstairs, the brunette wondered what could've caused Draco to be so overprotective. Hermione knew that the trio had a big secret, and she had a gut feeling that she was about to find out what.

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"Harry?" Draco murmured, shaking the shoulder of aforementioned friend, gently. Said aforementioned friend turned over, trying his best to avoid waking up, it seemed. Though Draco felt sort of guilty waking up the clearly exhausted Harry, he knew that if Harry skipped a meal, the brunet wouldn't eat anything until the next mealtime, for some peculiar reason. Draco had suspicions that it was because of Harry's upbringing, and he couldn't help but hate those miserable excuses of human beings, however much Harry told him (and Luna) many times to forget it.

Draco was sure that one day, after the war, the Dursleys were going to get their justice...even if he had to dish it out himself. But for the time being...

"Harry?" The brunet had a interesting habit of being able to sleep uninterrupted despite any type of noise, unless he was on the run, and had to keep alert. After five more minutes of shaking, Harry finally open one eye to reveal a emerald iris. "Yes, Draco?" he asked pleasantly. "Dinner," replied the blond. "Come on." Harry nodded, and blinking his sleep addled eyes, followed his friend downstairs.

Halfway down the hallway, they met Luna. "You guys, what took you so long?ཀ Never mind, let's just go," she smiled, tugging the two fo them down the stairs. The table was already set, everything in place. The plates and bowls were filled with lasagna and soup, and the glasses with iced tea or lemonade. Everyone greeted the boys, and Harry gave an apology, "Sorry for oversleeping, and not being able to help."

The occupants of the table waved off his apology, and the group dug into the meal. Soon afterwards, everyone bid their friends a good night, and headed off to bed, and to their respective rooms. Tomorrow was the big day...

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Harry sighed as he dropped into the soft bed that had been added to Draco's room as to make sure everyone had somewhere comfortable to sleep. He relished the feel of the soft blankets and sheets, and yawned slightly. Though the nap that he had unwillingly (mentally) taken was very refreshing to his sleep-deprived body, it seemed as though he would need more to recover from his forced insomniac nights.

The brunet heard sounds of water flowing from the bathroom attached to Draco's bedroom. He had previously taken a shower, and towel dried his hair, leaving it damp, but not overly so. The shower suddenly stopped, and rustling sounds were heard from the bathroom. A couple minutes later, Draco came out dressed in light pyjamas as to adjust to the heavy summer heat.

"Are you going to sleep, now?" asked Draco, looking at his friend. "You look like you need it," he added. Harry furrowed his eyebrows, _was the glamour failing?_ He gently tested his magical ability, and concluding that it wasn't. It was just Draco's unusually keen observance skills, which never let anything past the blond.

"And if you say you aren't, I'm going to strap you to that bed and make you sleep." Well, there went to _ridiculous_ notion that overprotective blond was actually going to let him stay awake. "I'll go to sleep..." replied Harry, "good night." "Good night, Harry," Draco answered, flicking off the lights, before heading to his own bed.

Harry lay in silence, listening to Draco's breathing eventually even out. The sound was rather soothing...deep breaths the only sound throughout the room. Harry felt his eyes droop, and his body growing lethargic. **No****ཀ** He can't go to sleep just yet...but it seemed that his body wasn't obeying him, and he nodded off, five minutes later.

One bed over, a certain blond made a rather creepy smile. Mission complete. Luna had added a mild sleeping potion of his into Harry's warm glass of milk that he always drank before going to sleep. Luna was the one that always prepared it, and perfect for the job. The sleeping potion was completely unnoticeable as well as tasteless, something Draco had created with a few tweaks to his godfather's own design.

Draco yawned, and turned over, closing his mercury eyes, and falling asleep.

However...one bed over, emerald eyes broke open in the darkness, glowing in the otherwise darkness. So it seemed that Luna and Draco had really teamed up to add something in his milk. Harry knew that it was completely for his own good, but he couldn't help be a bit irked. On the other hand, Harry understood that if either of them, or both, confronted him, he would completely deny it, and sneak up later anyways.

Draco and Luna both forgot one key concept of drugging a friend though. You don't drug said friend with something, when he was carrying a charm that detected potions, poisons, and unwanted added things that they themselves have given said friend six years ago, as a form of protection. Meh, it was six years ago...

Harry turned his head to the side, peering at his friend. He cast a silencing charm on himself, and walked soundlessly to the side of Draco's bed, grabbing his blankets from his bed as he did so. Looking down at his friend, he gently tucked the extra blankets around the form, and walked to his own bed, casting another silencing charm on the bed, as well, as the space around it. If he wasn't going to use the blankets, Harry might as well put them to good use...

He was three-fourths of the way done with the purple cloakཀ After this was over, he swore that he would drop on his bed, and sleep for a week. It was hardly his fault that the idea came to him a mere two weeks before Christmas...on the bright side, however, Luna's present was the only one that he hadn't finished yet, with the others completely wrapped and adorned with ribbons (with the exception of Draco's, which he was going to wrap in the same fashion as Luna's).

Now if only he could get this done more quickly. Harry resigned himself to a night of work, dearly hoping that it would be finished by tomorrow if he worked hard. Oh, he could use magic of course, but things made by hand and infused with good-will and painstaking blood, sweat, and tears were always better than those magic-ed up, and Harry wanted to make sure that his best friends had the best, just as they had for him.

And so Harry dutifully sewed the night away.

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Luna opened her eyes, irritated by the bright sunlight. She turned back into her bed, and was about to go back to sleep when something peculiar sounded alarm bells in her head. Since when did the delicious smell of breakfast waft into her room, when it wasn't her making it? Grr...it seemed that their mission had failed after all. Either that, or she had overslept by a lot. Peering to her alarm clock (which was turned offཀ), she noticed that is was only six in the morning, still rather early, especially for a day when it was vacation.

She dragged herself out of bed (it seemed like she was doing that too much latelyཀ) And headed to the bathroom, despite her urge to immediately go downstairs. After ten minutes to herself, Luna changed into some day clothes, before heading downstairs. It seemed as though she was the first one up, except for the mysterious cook.

"Harry?" she called out tentatively, waiting for a response. "Yes?" her response came, and Luna turned the corner into the kitchen. Harry was standing over two pans, and there was a two pots of something already sitting on the table. Knowing that it was quite meaningless to scold him (Harry wasn't very good at listening to suggestions about his health, except from an angry Draco), Luna asked him, "Do you need any help? What are you making?" Peering over his shoulder, Harry replied, "I was sort of bored of regular English breakfasts, so I decided to make something foreign and different." "Another one of your experiments?" teased Luna playfully.

Harry blushed slightly, and nodded. "So what is it this time?" "Shāo bing yóu tiáo, with dòu jiāng and eggs," he answered. "Taiwanese?" Luna asked, raising an eyebrow. "Translation please?" Harry smiled, and replied, "It's basically a sort of crispy pancake (shāo bing), and what foreigners have dubbed "Chinese doughnuts" (yóu tiáo). The dòu jiāng is soymilk, and the eggs are...well, eggs, except I added scallions to it." "Ah," Luna made a sound of understanding. Well, sort of, "I got about a third of what you just said, so how about we just try it? So, do you need help?"

"Well, you can mix the scallions into the eggs, and add a bit of salt. I'll stir fry it, and make some to go with the main dish." "Ok, then," Luna replied, taking several eggs (one for each person) and whisking it thoroughly in a bowl. Following her friend's careful instructions, as Harry fried stuff, Luna gently stirred in the scallions, adding a dash of salt as she finished. While she was doing so, Harry put a plate of the yóu tiáo on the table, and was currently adding the shāo bing to the pan.

"What shall I do with these, Harry?" Luna asked. "Here, hand them to me," he answered, reaching a slim and pale hand for the bowl. She gave it to him, and watched as he poured some of the mixture on each one, until all seven of the shāo bing had a coating of the egg mixture on it. Looking curiously at what Harry was doing, Luna gazed at him work, putting all of the shāo bing on each plate, and then setting the table with it.

Adding chopsticks to the trio's seats, and forks and knives to everyone else's, Luna took over the task of bringing out other dishes. "What do you want to put the soymilk in?" Luna asked her companion. Harry seemed to think for a moment, before telling her, "How about those small bowls in the top cupboard? I want to keep this traditional..." She nodded, and brought them out, while Harry brought soup spoons.

"Should we put this stuff under a charm to keep it warm?" the blonde asked. "Nah, everyone should be coming down within the next ten minutes." "Really?" "Yep." As if on cue, Draco was the first after the two to come downstairs. After aiming a glare at Harry (_what did I do? _was heard) he sat down, and put his head in his hands. Both Luna and Harry knew very well that Draco was not the ideal morning person, they just smiled.

"What's this?" Draco mumbled out, blond hair mussed slightly from sleep. "Breakfast," Harry replied. "Well, I know that, but..." Draco was interrupted by the arrival of Sirius, and seconds after him, Hermione. Remus came downstairs two minutes after the two of them. "Good morningཀ" chirped Harry cheerfully, grinning at both Sirius and Draco's tired faces. "Good morning, Harry, Luna, Draco, Mr. Black." Hermione greeted. Apparently Harry now had someone to be a morning person with him. "Wah, don't call me Mr. Black it makes me feel oldཀ" protested said man. Innocently, Harry replied, "But you are old, Siriusཀ"

Sirius growled playfully, and tackled his godson. Hermione blinked, and looked curiously at her roommate. "Don't worry, this is normal," Luna reassured her. Hermione grinned, and looked up the stairs. "I wonder.." the brunette was interrupted as the person she was going to inquire about, Neville, stumbled down the stairs.

Greetings were exchanged among the seven people, and Harry smiled. Now that everyone was here, he took the yóu tiáo, and folded the shāo bing in half, sandwiching the yóu tiáo and egg between it. "Eat, then," Harry said. "Wow, that looks goodཀ What is it?" Hermione asked her friend. Harry explained, and the seven of them sat down to eat. "Harry sure does know a lot of recipes, doesn't he?" Neville commented to Luna. She nodded, and replied, "That he doesཀ And it always comes out deliciousཀ"

Harry denied it modestly, and the group soon dug in. Between bites, Harry was worrying about the reactions of Remus, Hermione, and Neville. All three of them were important friends to the brunet, and he wasn't sure if he could bear it if even one of them walked out on him. "Harry?" Draco asked, noticing that his friend had stopped eating. "Hm?" Harry blinked, shaking himself out of his reverie. "Nothing," Draco replied, still peering at Harry for any sign of distress or discomfort. When seeing nothing but worry, which the trio and Sirius all felt, Draco sighed and went back to his breakfast.

Draco bet that Harry had made the elaborate and unusual breakfast as to placate everyone, and provide a degree of calmness. Though much of their plan was to wing the situation, the trio and Sirius had decided mutually to break the news to their friends after breakfast. Draco was sure that the atmosphere had to be tense right now, with four members of their group extremely on edge.

Breakfast was eaten quietly afterwards, and when everyone had put their dishes in the sink, Harry suggested quietly, "We have some...interesting...news for everyone. Would you mind coming to the living room?"

As if sensing the seriousness of Harry's tone, Remus, Neville, and Hermione simply nodded, and headed towards the door with Sirius and Luna in tow. "Are you really all right, Harry?" Draco asked the smaller male.

"I really am fine," Harry replied. "I'll be right there, give me a minute, ok?" Draco took in mind his slight form leaning on the edge of the table, and frowned. Hesitantly, he nodded, and left the brunet to his own devises for the time being.

Harry collapsed into the chair when Draco closed the door behind him. He really was tired from his late night sewing sessions, though he tried his best to keep his friends from noticing. He knew that he should probably relax, but with an important date looming, Harry felt like he could put his time to more well-spent areas. Conjuring a Pepper-Up potion, he downed it quietly. Instantly feeling better, Harry went to the refrigerator, pulling out a jug of ice tea and another of apple juice. Grabbing a stack of cups, he made his way to the living room, doing his best to relax the impending conversation.

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Hermione knew from the rather grim tone that Harry had taken up that apparently the talk that was to follow was going to be a shocking one. Harry was usually an extremely upbeat person, and Hermione knew that if Harry was dreading talking with Neville, Remus, and herself, their conversation in the upcoming moments would likely break or make their strong friendship. If Harry and the others felt that it was this serious, the bookworm couldn't help but feel her own sense of dread.

However, Hermione knew that she would stand behind her friends. The trio had been the ones that took care of her in the past years at Hogwarts, taking up a maturity and protectiveness that seemed well above their years. Harry, Luna, and Draco had stood behind her for the past two and a half years, and she didn't plan on letting a secret destroy their friendship.

Don't get her wrong. She was quite irked at the fact that the trio would keep a secret from her, but if they felt the need to, Hermione was sure that they would have their reasons. And so she clasped her hands together, and when Harry entered the room, waited for the verdict.

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The seven people sat there for a minute, before Harry couldn't stand the silence anymore. Opening his mouth, he started blurting out whatever he could think of, _again_. "Well, you see...we are all time-mmph!"

Both Draco and Luna had thrown a hand over his mouth, and were glaring at him. "You see how well it went the last time you broke the news! Sirius fainted!" Draco hissed.

Sheepishly, Harry rubbed his neck. "None of you were saying anything! And Sirius got over it! ...sooner or later."

Luna just shook her head, and the three who did not know their secret were staring curiously at the trio and Sirius. "You fainted Sirius?" Remus asked, his tone teasing and filled with mirth, chocolate-brown eyes sparkling with laughter.

"Shut it!" Sirius retorted, shoving Remus playfully. "Let's see how well you react!"

They looked amongst each other again, and Harry opened his mouth. "Um..." Luna intercepted quickly, before Harry could say anything. "There's really no way to put this gently, so I'll be blunt. We, Draco, Harry, and myself I mean, are time-travelers from the past. Or is it the future?"

Silence was heard, until a two calm voices broke out. "Ok," Neville and Hermione both said at the same time.

"Really?" Harry asked. Hermione nodded, and Neville smiled.

"You guys are my best friends, and though I do think I am taking this a bit too calmly and am going to freak out as soon as I have time to think about this quietly. But whatever happened in the past, or future, or whatever, you guys are my best friends. You think I would just betray you?" Hermione said. "I'm hurt!"

Harry broke out in a smile, and tackled Hermione in a hug. "Hermione put it much more eloquently than I ever could, but that's basically what I feel too. I would never desert you just because of this! But you'll have to explain the whole "time travelers" thing to me...wait..._time travelers!_ Sure, we do live in a society of wizards, but, time traveling?" Luna and Draco grinned at the fumbling Neville, but knew from his reaction that he would come to accept it. Not that their news was exactly easy to completely become used to.

"Remus?" Harry asked quietly. The professor and mentor of the brunet was unmoving, and Harry feared the worst. "Remus?" The start of tears began welling up in Harry's eyes, but he held on to them, waiting for a definite reaction, however horrible it might be.

"Wait, will you, Harry? I'm...sorry." With that Remus walked quickly and quietly out of the room. Harry trembled, and Luna sighed, gently enveloping the older boy into a slight hug.

"I'm...alright," Harry replied, before standing up. "Excuse me." He ran for the room he was sharing with Draco for the time being, taking the stairs two at a time.

"Damn," Sirius cursed, and aimed a punch at the sofa. As much as he could understand Remus' point of view, at least slightly, he could stand to see tears well up in his godson's emerald green eyes. Remus had always been the most logical out of them, and even in the wizarding world, time traveling was an impossible thing, lost within the ages and never discovered again. Besides, it wasn't every day that you found out that three of your students were time travelers from who knew when. Sometimes logic worked against someone, and It seemed that it had taken a hold on Remus.

Hermione headed for the stairs, but Luna grabbed her arm. "Let Draco find him, please. For some reason, they always have had a tightly bound friendship in different ways than Harry and mine, and Harry only listens to Draco in times like this. Let him handle it, please."

Hermione nodded hesitantly, and Draco bobbed his head in thanks before racing up the stairs after his friend. Silence was overpowering in the room, and Luna poured herself a cup of juice, if only to pass the time.

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Harry was barely aware of anything, just of what seemed like a blaring pain in his chest. Remus...though it may have seemed like obligation to James Potter more than anything, Harry knew that Remus had cared for him. In the past times, with Sirius' death, Remus had become his pillar of support, along with his two blond friends. United in their grief, Remus became an important mentor to him, and helped him along. When the elder man fell just days before the final battle, Harry was unconsolable. Now, it seemed as if the pain was reoccurring all over again.

His world was a blur, unaware of anything but the sobs that wracked his seemingly tiny frame. Harry didn't notice knocking on the door, or another presence in the room until warm, strong arms enveloped him, and he was adjusted so that the brunet was nestled tenderly into his friend's arms, head in a warm shoulder. Harry couldn't help but feel safe and wanted when his friends held him, especially Draco. Luna was the one who protected him from a distance, talked him through his problems, and was level-headed. On the other hand, Draco was the one who wasn't afraid to go against his wills if it meant his health, wasn't afraid to yell at him when he was being uncooperative and stubborn, and wasn't afraid to hold him and let him cry, really cry. Though their relationships were different, Harry loved both of his friends.

And now, Draco's warm embrace seemed to make his world all the more brighter. Harry sobbed into Draco's shoulder, and a warm hand gently smoothed circles onto his back. "It'll be alright," the blond murmured comforting nothings in his ear. Though Harry usually believed all that Draco said, he couldn't help but feel that the older blond was wrong about this...

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**On that happy note, I'm ending the chapter! =) I didn't mean to leave a cliffhanger, but I felt that it was a good place to stop. I felt bad for Harry as I wrote this. I'll try and update soon, please review? Let me know how you liked it!**


	17. Chapter 16

**Hi! So sorry for the delay…my computer died, apparently my motherboard burned out. So…it's getting fixed right now, and I'm typing this on the family computer. Here's the chapter then!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

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Chapter 16

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Not many people would call Remus John Lupin cruel. Most who did didn't called Remus evil, but rather the fact that he was a werewolf unnatural and dark. Near all who knew him, he and not his 'furry little friend' would call him kind, logical, intelligent, and caring. But cruel was exactly what he felt like as he saw the emerald green eyes that had belonged to Lily Evans Potter, and now Harry James Potter well up in tears, glowing almost eerily with hurt.

And he felt crueler when he saw the hurt and betrayed features of Sirius, glaring accusingly at him for making the teenager cry. Now, as Remus sat tiredly on the bed, he couldn't help but regret his rash actions. Though he was usually level-headed, time-traveling was just so unlikely a possibility that every cell of his logical body rebelled against the idea. Especially since the time-travelers were three of his most talented students, and Harry one.

Remus hadn't planned on hurting Harry's feelings, nor making Sirius feel betrayed, but it just happened that way with a few words that had inevitably fell out of his mouth. Soon afterwards, with a clearer mind, Remus had wanted to apologize to the pair and the rest in the room immediately. How could two children be more accepting and loyal to the closely knit friends them him? One look at the cold sneering eyes of the young blond Malfoy stopped him however.

His mercury eyes showered accusations on the Defense teacher, and Remus John Lupin had never felt so guilty and worthless in his life.

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Draco sighed as he overlooked the prone and sleeping figure of Harry, leaning childishly on his lap. The younger brunet had fallen asleep after several hours of crying, exhausted. Harry had a tight grip on Draco's wrist, not tight enough to injure, but enough to make his intentions perfectly clear. Draco lightly brushed dark colored hair out of the sleeping teen's eyes, and Harry jerked slightly, before falling back into slumber.

That jerk, Draco thought, his pondering currently upon a certain chocolate brown-haired teacher. Draco hadn't seen Harry cry like that in ages, ever since the war ended. Though Harry seemed to relinquish a lot of control to his pair of blond friends, Draco knew that the brunet had a degree of inner strength that could not compare. Even if the first impressions tell you otherwise, Draco knew that Harry could be a very difficult person, and stubborn as hell in most times.

He had yet to see the teen loosen the tight hold he kept on himself, even to his beloved friends. For Harry to cry in Draco's shoulder for hours, even if unwillingly, Draco would make sure that there would be hell to pay. Sighing, he gingerly stroked the soft locks of hair from Harry, and minutely shifted. It seemed like he wouldn't be going anywhere for a while.

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Luna was in a bad mood. Oh, you couldn't usually tell by looking at her. However, if one knew her well enough, her slightly stiff movements and tapping of her fingers gave her away. She was worried about the lone brunet in their trio, and it showed. Having given up on practicing spell work, the young woman was currently lying on her bed, and peering up at the ceiling. When she finally felt like she was at the edge of her wits, a short rap came on the door.

"Come in," Luna called out.

"Luna," Draco greeted, as he let himself in quietly. "He's fine, at least physically." He answered her unspoken question.

She sighed, flopping back on the bed, and voiced aloud, "Do you think he'll be alright?"

"Our Harry? Of course. The only problem is how long it'll be before he cracks, if everyone keeps this pace up." Both friends had seen the wariness in their companion, and the way he seemed to be especially tired when on vacation. Sure, Harry was undoubtedly having fun, but he set higher expectations for himself, when they were back at Grimmauld Place and relaxing.

Luna creased her eyebrows, and Draco spoke up. "How about we go make dinner?" The whole household had skipped lunch together, but Luna had made a stack of sandwiches and juice in the refrigerator for any would-be lunch eaters. "It doesn't look like Harry's going to up for it anytime soon," Luna agreed somberly, and together the pair went to do _something_, _anything_, to take their mind off of things.

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Halfway through the recipe for mushroom cream casserole and sautéed chicken with potatoes, Draco looked up to see Harry enter the room. The brunet looked much better compared to before, and seemed almost normal. Only his two friends could tell that he was still stressed, a hand constantly tapping slightly on some flat surface. Luna and Draco wordlessly accepted his companionship, knowing from experience that it was best to just let Harry do as he wished (within reason, of course) for the next few days.

Harry took up the job of sautéing the chicken, adding mushrooms, and stirring occasionally in a comforting and steady pattern. The table was set by Luna, and Draco finished up stir-frying the potatoes, and took the casserole out of the oven. While Harry was pouring glasses of grape juice, Hermione appeared at the doorway.

"Harry!" she whispered, before approaching the Slytherin.

Surprisingly, Harry didn't push her off, and leaned hesitantly into her embrace. Draco made an 'hmm' in the back of his throat, and one could almost tell that Harry wanted to roll his eyes at the blond. "Sorry for making you worry, Hermione," he said instead.

"It's not your fault!" Draco protested, making it clear in his voice just who he thought was to bear the blame of the young brunet's conflicting emotions.

Harry smiled, half-heartedly, and gently removed himself from Hermione's tight and worried hug. "I'm not that hungry, I'll be upstairs if you need me."

"You should eat something too, Harry," admonished Luna.

"I'll be alright," Harry replied. "I'll get something to eat later, you guys eat first." With that, he walked back upstairs, despite the protests of the three in the kitchen.

Draco sighed, and began ladling food onto a plate. When he had two servings of the casserole and chicken and potatoes on the tray, as well as two glasses of juice, the blond said, "I'll join Harry upstairs tonight. Eat, and don't worry about it."

Luna and Hermione exchanged worried glances, but hesitantly left the comforting of their mutual friend to Draco. "Hermione, I'll go get Sirius and Neville, could you find Remus and tell him that it's supper time?

The intelligent Ravenclaw nodded, and together, they climbed the stairs to beckon their house mates.

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"And so we meet again," Harry quirked a slight smile when Draco let himself in their shared room.

"Very funny," replied Draco wryly. "Eat."

"But I'm not hungry, _Mother_," Harry replied.

"Too bad," Draco retorted, pushing a plate into the brunet's lap and a glass on the night stand.

"You should eat too," pointed out Harry.

"I will if you will," Draco stubbornly answered.

Harry sighed, and lifted a spoonful of the mushroom cream casserole into his mouth. "Happy?"

Draco shot back, "Very," and began his own meal. Harry nodded, and continued to eat, slowly. Draco, at odds as to what to do, slowly swallowed, and continued to peer worriedly at his friend. Though Harry never seemed to rest in a slump for long, at least that one could see, Draco knew that Harry had the ability to twist things around and blame himself for things that were never his fault in the first place. All his friends, who knew this tendency, believed that this was one of Harry's biggest quirk/fault, and were careful as to not exploit it.

"You should eat with everyone else," Harry said suddenly.

"So should you," Draco replied, effectively ending that train of thought.

"Touché."

Though Harry didn't seem to consciously know it, he seemed to resort to the usual banter with Draco as to relieve stress. The huge difference between their banter and their old (long past) quarrels was that these little 'fights' that they had were good-willed, and nothing was taken as insulting or deeply hurtful.

Harry let out another half-smile, lips twitching up just the slightest. The friends ate in a comfortable silence until a knock at the door interrupted them. Draco stood up, waving off Harry's attempt to answer, and opened the door. Remus Lupin stood at the entrance, looking worse for the wear. "Oh, it's _you_," Draco said, glaring quite harshly at the man who was the cause of his younger friend's heartbreak. "What do you want?"

"I'd like to speak with Harry, if I may," Remus replied.

By now Harry had stood up, and with that answer, gently covered Draco's mouth before he could make a sharp retort. "Draco..." the brunet admonished quietly. Draco sighed, and walked outside. "I'll put up a limited silencing charm, neh?"

"Limited silencing charm?" Draco asked, curious as to the new spell he'd never heard of before.

"Still developing it," Harry answered. "It's a modified form of the silencing charm, really quite similar. The main difference is that you can't hear what's going on inside, unless whatever's happening is causing the caster any harm."

Remus was gazing at Harry with a rather impressed look. Draco made another 'hmm' sound, before saying, "When did you have the time to create that? The formula can't be easy, even with the fundamentals laid out for you."

"Meh, here and there," Harry answered. "Full blanket silencing charms seem to annoy you a lot when you're not the one casting it, so this idea came to me."

Draco raised an eyebrow, sent a glare at Remus (Malfoy Glare !), and stalked out of the room with a warning glance at Harry. Teasingly, Harry voiced aloud, "I think he's been spending too much time with Severus, if he can stalk like that."

In truth, the young Gryffindor turned Slytherin felt like all of his renowned Gryffindorish bravery (or hero-complex stupidity, as Draco had oh-so-fondly dubbed it) had deserted him. Harry was actually a tight bundle of nerves, wondering what Remus wanted. Harry gestured for Remus to sit, and used magic to spin out the armchair that was usually tucked in the corner of the room for Draco's reading urges, though it was more often Harry lounging there.

Remus hesitantly took the seat, perching rather awkwardly on the edge of the chair. Determined to lighten the mood if it killed him (he cast the modified silencing spell first), Harry teased gently, "The chair isn't going to bite you, if that's what you're afraid of."

Remus blushed a light shade of pink, and sunk down deeper into the chair.

"I'm...sorry about how I reacted," Remus began slowly.

"It's all right, I know it was quite a shock," Harry allowed.

"It's not alright, Harry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, I extremely rash in my decisions and jumped to conclusions. I'm really sorry about that," Remus continued.

"I'm...unsure...if I could immediately accept that apology," Harry answered. "I was a bit hurt by the rejection...I understand that you're not my Remus Lupin though, and that you would react differently, even if you're fundamentally the same person. We can try..."

"Agreed," Remus said, "I couldn't expect you to just accept my apology after I did those hurtful things. But we'll try, won't we?"

Harry nodded hesitantly, and extended a hand to the older man. Equally shy, Remus bypassed the hand, and extremely gently, embraced the young teen. Harry's face lit up in a brilliant smile, and Remus couldn't help but feel guilty for having caused sadness to become near permanently etched on the emerald eyes before.

"You should go eat dinner, Remus," Harry said, 'I'll tell Draco the coast is clear before he has a heart attack." Harry smiled, Draco was definitely the supreme mother-hen. The DADA professor nodded, and slowly made his way out of the room. Three minutes after he was gone, Harry released the spell.

Draco, feeling the sudden influx of magic, had burst in. "Harry! How did everything go? Did that...person hurt you? Are you alright?"

Grinning broadly, Harry replied, "Draco. Fine. No. Yes."

Draco glared playfully at his mocking answers, and shoved him in the shoulder. "Hurry up and finish dinner then," Draco answered, casting a quick heating charm on the rapidly cooled meal, and a cooling charm on the warming grape juice.

"Ah, thanks," Harry replied, a smile shining in his emerald eyes. Draco's breath caught at the sheer _happiness_ that Harry seemed to emit, and the blond couldn't help but smile happily too.

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The rest of Neville, Remus, and Hermione's visit progressed rather normally compared to the first few days. The days were filled with fun, food, and a sense of companionship that all seven of the group seemed to bask in. Time soon caught up with them, and Neville and Hermione were both to return home and spend Christmas with their respective families.

Extremely unfortunately, both Sirius and Remus were being called back to Hogwarts, along with the rest of its memorable staff, to strengthen the wards and get rid of a herd of pixies that had stubbornly hid themselves amongst the numerous nooks and crannies of the large castle that served as a school.

Sirius was furious, and could hardly be consoled. This Christmas was, after all, the first Christmas that he had been able to spend with Harry since Harry's first, and last, Christmas with the Potters. The Black had planned to floo in and give Dumbledore a piece of his mind. In an attempt to placate him, Remus had insisted that he could go alone, and that Sirius should stay with the trio. Sirius had seemed hesitant to take the offer, not wanting to leave his friend to spend Christmas alone in a secluded room in the castle.

Luna was the one to come up with a solution for the problem. The blonde had suggested that Sirius spend Christmas at Hogwarts with Remus, like a good friend and staff member. However, in order to make up for it, they would celebrate again when Sirius would return, and exchange gifts between Sirius and the trio then (from Sirius to the trio, or from the trio to Sirius). Upon Harry's adamant encouragement, the Black had agreed, though not without worries.

Finally, the morn of the two adult's departure had arrived.

"Now be careful of the stove, keep all the doors and windows locked, and don't fall of the stairs or something!" Sirius instructed.

He received three deadpanned stares.

"Sirius, we're the ones to cook most meals, Grimmauld Place is warded and under Fidelius, and we're thirteen!" Harry protested. "Honestly, you're worse than Draco right now!"

Said blond, who was standing by him, glared, and muttered, "I'll take that as a compliment, I guess."

Luna smiled, and patted his arm.

Remus shook his head, and grasped Sirius gently by the arm. "Be careful!" he said, before pulling Sirius out the front door. When Sirius' shouting of instructions and things to be careful of finally faded out of hearing, the trio all let out a mutual sign of relief. Sirius had been constantly badgering them with 'advice', and as much as the trio appreciated the fact that he was definitely looking out for them, it was getting a bit wearing.

"So, we have an afternoon to kill. What do you guys want to do?" Harry asked.

"Want to duel? Or mix some potions? Or work on some new spells?" Luna tossed out suggestions.

Draco shrugged. "We haven't done any of those things in awhile, due to the fact that we've been busy all break. I'd be fine with any of those."

Harry smiled, and said, "Then let's start with the dueling!"

Luna and Draco rolled their eyes, but followed their friend enthusiastically to the backyard.

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Running a towel quickly through his hair, Harry glanced at his reflection. Yawning into a hand, the brunet sighed. The presents to Hermione and Neville owled, Sirius and Remus' presents wrapped neatly, and even small presents to friends at school sent out. All that was left on the cloaks was a bit more of touching up that could be done in a single night, and for them to be properly wrapped.

And just in the nick of time too. Today was the day before Christmas Eve, and the trio had a tradition regarding Christmas celebration. Every year since they were sixteen, Harry, Luna, and Draco had celebrated together on Christmas Eve. The exceptions were when they separated due to unforeseen reasons, but they still found some way of exchanging well wishes.

Harry was sure that with a bit of work, the cloaks would be done. And all that hard work would be worth it. The emerald-eyed teen was rather proud of his 'works of art'. The two cloaks were ladled with protective charms and various spells that would indefinitely protect its bearer. It was the most elaborate creation that the brunet had created yet.

Still, Harry was tired. He was sure that he would be out for quite awhile once he finally developed immunity to the Pepper-Up potions and tons of caffeine that he had been consuming. He had to up the doses as the get the same effect recently, but as tonight was probably the last night for awhile he had to take them, Harry wasn't that worried about that.

Yawning again, he finished rubbing his raven locks dry from the shower, put the towel down, and walked back to the room that Draco was sharing with him. Upon entering, he came across the aforementioned blond, sitting on his bed and reading a book.

"You look tired," was the first thing that Draco said to him. "You should sleep, tomorrow will be a tiring day, if a lot of fun."

Harry nodded, and flopped down on his covers. Draco moved to turn off the light, but Harry quickly interjected, "You don't have to stop reading. I'll be fine with the light on." Harry knew from lots of experience that Draco could lay awake in bed for a long time if he wasn't thoroughly tired out or at peace. Having Draco read until he fell asleep would come quicker than if Draco turned the light off and waited for his trip to Morpheus' realm.

"You sure? The light won't bother you, I mean?" Draco asked.

Upon a reassuring nod and smile, Draco shrugged and continued reading. Harry turned over, burying his face in the soft pillows, and slowly evened out his breathing.

Another fifteen minutes later, the light was turned off and Draco had set the book on the night stand next to his bed. Harry heard Draco muffle a slight yawn, and pull the covers over his head. When Harry was 100% sure that Draco was actually asleep, he made his way (extremely gingerly!) To the living room. Throwing up another silencing charm, he settled himself on the sofa and conjured up the cloaks. After working for roughly two hours, and taking another two to meticulously fold the cloaks into boxes and wrap them, Harry was near done. Attaching two gift tags to the ribbon on top, Harry yawned, before levitating the presents under his bed, and quietly climbing in himself.

Minutes later, Harry was asleep.

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Luna woke up early the next morning. It was barely six thirty when she went through her morning routines and made her way downstairs to make breakfast. After making sure that both Draco and Harry were still in bed and asleep, Luna searched through the refrigerator, wondering what kind of morning meal she should make. After a moment's though, the blonde decided that she would make a traditional full English breakfast. Harry was more prone to making fancy and foreign dishes, and it had been awhile since they had traditional-styled food.

Taking out eggs, bacon, sausage, and ham, cheese, and mushrooms, she laid them out over a breakfast griddle. Though the bacon and sausage were for everyone (to be distributed among all the plates), Luna knew that all three of their little trio liked their eggs differently. She herself preferred them scrambled, Draco liked his sunny-side up, and Harry enjoyed a ham, cheese, and mushroom omelet.

When the different breakfast meats were set to sizzling, she found ready-made waffles from the freezer, and enough ingredients for pancakes. Humming to herself, Luna happily worked through the simple processes, savoring the peace that cooking brought her. After setting out a pitcher of fresh coffee, and jugs of OJ and milk, Luna went upstairs to meet Harry on the stairs, ushering him to the table.

Harry insisted on going with her to bring Draco downstairs, and so together they found Draco. The blond was in the bedroom, and was getting ready to come to breakfast himself.

"Hurry up, Draco!" teased Harry good-naturally.

Draco grinned, and shoved him in the shoulder in response.

Luna smiled, and waved both of them in the direction of the table. "Wow, this looks great, Luna!" Harry complimented.

Luna replied, "Just eat," but beamed at the compliment.

"It really does, Luna," Draco added in.

"Thank you," she replied, "Now just eat."

The boys grinned, and dug in.

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Surprisingly, one of the trio's Christmas routines was to bake pastries, and fill the house with their heavenly smell. This tradition had been created the second Christmas Eve they had spent together. Right before the final battle, the trio had been confined to the castle, due to obvious reasons.

Draco had absentmindedly mentioned a tradition that Narcissa Malfoy had practiced with him all those years ago, when he was still only a toddler. Despite the length of time that passed, Draco couldn't help but remember better times, when his mother had showered him with love and care. He reminisced the sense of comfort he felt, and how the smell of baking cookies (which he had carefully made with help of Narcissa) made him feel all warm and fuzzy. However, as he grew, Lucius had forbidden these Christmas baking sessions, and they had been dropped.

Upon hearing Draco's confession, Luna had also voiced a Lovegood mother/daughter Christmas tradition. For every year since the young Luna could toddle, Mrs. Lovegood had made a variety of sweets with her daughter. This little activity had been continued every year without mishap until Luna's mother's death, and their last Christmas spent together when she was eight.

Harry had been the one to suggest that they combine these two traditions and make it their own. Luna and Draco had agreed, wanting to share the warm experience with Harry, who they knew had experienced neither, nor anything like this.

The baking had been a huge hit, with Harry's absurdly good cooking skills and Luna's very good ones. Draco had helped, and together revived and composed their new tradition.

"Neh, pass me the milk, Draco?" Harry asked, whisking a mixture in a large bowl. The blond handed him a jug of the white liquid, and Harry nodded thankfully.

Three hours later the house was filled with a sense of warmth, and the smell of baked and baking goods. "That's was fun," Harry smiled.

Draco glared at him, while Luna burst out laughing. The reason for their reactions?

Glaring blond covered in flour.

Once the last batch of sweets was safely placed in the oven, Harry had declared that he was bored. Draco had (foolishly) told him to find something to do, or to watch the tarts baking in the oven. Luna had immediately taken a good six steps back. Seconds later, a blond Slytherin was covered in flour. Hence the fact why their kitchen was covered in white powder, as well as the two boys.

Sighing, Draco banished the flour off their bodies and the floor. Harry smiled sweetly, and Luna couldn't help but smile brightly.

Ding!

The oven's bell set off, and Harry happily made his way to it. Gingerly, using oven mitts, he lifted out a tray of tarts from the top layer, and handed it to the awaiting Luna. From the bottom layer, the green-eyed teen revealed a tray of crème brulee cups. "It smells wonderful!" Luna exclaimed.

Harry and Draco nodded their agreement, and the trays were set on the counter, which was already laden with other sweets. The trio had gone all out. The three of them had gone on a baking spree, and made so many different desserts that one would swear they were preparing for a busy day in a pastry shop.

The newly finished fruit tarts and crème brulee were placed on the counter. Down the line there were a variety of cookies, ranging from the traditional chocolate chip to snicker doodles, little squares of cheesecake and chocolate cake, chocolate-covered strawberries, and others.

"I...think we overdid it a bit," Luna commented.

"A bit?" Draco asked wryly.

"It's okay! Draco, Luna, want to send these in little baskets to our friends? It's not like we can eat them all anyway..." Harry suggested.

"Sure, sounds like a good idea," agreed Luna.

"Great!" Harry smiled, conjuring up clear wrapping paper and ribbons.

The trio got into the task, gently placing the pastries and other sweets, first in containers, if needed, and then into individual baskets. The clear wrapping paper was then wrapped around the basket, so that the sweets would stay sanitary. A ribbon at the top tied everything off, and soon there were individual sweets baskets on the counter.

"How can we send these to our friends?" Luna pondered.

"It'd take too long with the owls..." Harry answered.

"And it'd be impolite to just floo in...but it seems that many don't use phones in the wizarding community..." Draco continued.

Harry got a happy twinkle in his eyes that made Draco and Luna back away slowly. "How about we apparate?"

"Um...I don't know...how about we don't have licenses? And remember how you got blamed for using magic in second and fifth year?" Draco replied.

"You're no fun," teased Harry in return.

"We could always cast those wards against the Trace..." trailed off Luna.

"Those are for emergency use only!" Draco said.

"This is an emergency! Let's go!" Harry exclaimed, shrinking the sweets baskets and packing them into a bag. "Luna's right, those wards we developed should ward off the Trace. They worked before, didn't they?"

"Well..." Draco answered, at a loss of words against Harry's verbal excuses.

"It's settled then! Let's go, Luna, Draco!" Harry smiled, bounding towards the living room. Draco shook his head at Harry's antics, and Luna shrugged helplessly. It's not like they had a better idea.

"Wait, Harry, how is this any better than a floo call?" Draco asked.

He was also promptly ignored.

"Ah, just let him. It's not like anyone could stand up against a well-wishing Harry, al hyped up like that. As long as we don't stay..." Luna placated.

Draco shook his head wryly, but followed Harry nonetheless. Luna smiled and followed Draco.

"Ready?" Harry asked, when they finally got there.

Smiling, Luna answered, "Somewhat."

"That's good enough for me!" Harry grinned.

Draco questioned, "Where to first?"

"How about the Grangers?" Luna suggested.

Upon a round of nods, Luna began casting the proper wards against the Trace. Inside Black Manor, the wards were strong enough to prevent any type of tracing method, magical or otherwise, to be placed on the individuals inside. That was the reason as to why the trio could use magic in the house, and so casually too. However, it would become necessary to apparate outside from the Grangers to their other friends, and then finally back home. The Trace would work on them then, so it was best to cast the wards when still inside the extremely strong wards of Grimmauld Place.

After moments of her wand flying through the air, Luna nodded. "We are strongly warded now, and nothing should set off our Trace even if we're using strong magic, let alone just apparating."

"Ok, then, let's go!" Harry bounced.

Luna asked, "Where do the Grangers live anyways?"

Harry stopped bouncing, as if the thought had just occurred to him. Which it probably just did. "Hermione lives in this calm little neighborhood...hm...Harry cast Accio, and a small notebook flew into his hand. "Here," he continued, showing them the address. "Ready now?"

Luna grinned at his enthusiasm, and even Draco had to smile despite his hesitance at their plan of travel. "On the count of three then," Draco directed. "One...two...three!"

Three cracks filled the empty living room.

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The doorbell rang, and a certain Hermione Granger bounded downstairs, curious as to whom the visitors might be. Her parents had relations of course, but most of them did not live close enough that a casual visit could be warranted. Hr. Granger was at the door, and after checking who it was, called his daughter.

"Hermione! It looks like some friends of yours are here!"

Smiling, and looking forward to an encounter with friends, she opened the door. "Harry, Luna, Draco! Merry Christmas Eve! What are you guys doing here? Come in!" an excited Hermione spouted off.

The trio chorused back, "Merry Christmas!"

"We came to give you these," Harry answered, unshrinking three of the sweets baskets.

"We can't stay, sorry!" Luna added in.

Mrs. Granger seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Nonsense. After coming all this way to give Hermione presents, it'd be insulting to just send you away and have you stand in our doorway!"

"Mom's right, come in everyone! By the way, didn't you all already send me presents?" Hermione said.

"Our trio has a tradition about baking on Christmas Eve. We overdid it, and decided to pay our friends a visit," Draco explained.

"You can talk about this indoors," Mrs. Granger answered, ushering in the trio, who couldn't refuse the invitation without insulting the kind woman.

"She's right, come in!" Mr. Granger added in.

Draco, Harry, and Luna replied a quiet, "Thank you," before gently stepping into the Granger home. Harry handed the sweets baskets to Mr. and Mrs. Granger, and then to Hermione.

"Wow, these look great!" complimented Hermione. "The three of you made this?"

"I'm glad you're so confident in our abilities," Draco teased.

Hermione blushed, and stammered, "That's not...I mean..."

Harry and Luna burst out laughing, and Draco and Hermione joined them seconds after. The elder Grangers smiled at their antics.

"Hermione's right though, these sweets look great!" Mrs. Granger added.

"They really do look great," Mr. Granger agreed.

Mrs. Granger soon said, "Would you all like something to drink? I made some cookies this morning..."

"No, no, it's okay. We didn't mean to impose..." Draco interjected smoothly.

"It's no problem!" all three Grangers insisted.

"You guys should all have some of Mom's cookies! They're great with Dad's peppermint cocoa," Hermione insisted, standing up to go get the snacks.

"I'll get them, sweetie," Mrs. Granger told her daughter, through a doorway, and into the hall.

"I'll help your mother, talk with your friends," said Mr. Granger, walking after his wife.

Luna said, "Your parents are very kind people."

Hermione smiled, and answered, "They are. Speaking of which, how did you guys get here? Is Professor Lupin or Sirius with you?"

"No, both Sirius and Remus are at a meeting at Hogwarts regarding the swarm of pixies that has taken the castle as their home. They should be back soon. As for how we got here, it's a se–cr–et!" Harry replied.

Hermione shook her head. "It's probably not safe or legal, is it?"

"I'm insulted! It's perfectly legal...if you're over seventeen..." the second part was muttered under Harry's breath.

"Here we are," Mrs. Granger re-entered the room, holding a plate of cookies, and Mr. Granger with four mugs of steaming cocoa behind her. "Eat up, well be upstairs if you need us, Hermione."

"Thank you!" all four kids replied.

"You're welcome," the parents replied, before retreating from the room again.

"So you guys just came to give us these baskets?" Hermione asked.

"Yep!" Harry beamed, reaching for a cookie.

Draco rolled his eyes, and added in, "As well as to wish you all a Merry Christmas."

Hermione smiled at him, and replied, "Thank you, everyone."

The four chatted idly for the next half hour, munching on cookies and sipping the peppermint cocoa. Finally, Luna stood up.

"We still have a few more places to visit, so if you'll please excuse us," she said.

The other three also stood up, and Harry added, "Compliment your parents for the cocoa and cookies please? It was delicious. Also tell them thanks for having us?"

"Thank you," Hermione answered, "I'll tell my parents that. Have a good Christmas, guys, and thanks for the baskets!"

"You're completely welcome," Draco smiled slightly.

"See you on the train then!" Hermione replied, walking them to the door.

The trio bid their brunette friend goodbye, before making their way out of the Granger house. "What time is it now, Luna?" Draco asked.

Luna cast a quick Tempus charm after glancing around to see if anyone was watching. "Four," she replied, dispelling the spell.

"We should drop by the Longbottoms," Luna suggested.

"I also want to drop a couple of these for the Weasleys...especially the twins," Harry answered.

"How about the Longbottoms first, and then the Weasleys?" Draco asked.

"Sure," Harry nodded in agreement. "I doubt we could just apparate onto the doorstep of Longbottom Manor though. They probably have as many wards as Grimmauld Place and Potter Manor have. I can't help but think that purebloods are overly paranoid," Harry said with a smile.

Luna looked at the two boys, and burst out laughing. Draco was eyeing Harry with an expression that made it clear he didn't know whether to laugh or feel offended.

Draco gave up with a breathy sigh, and answered, "We could always apparate most of the way and then walk"

"Draco, you do remember the first time we entered Potter Manor, right?" Harry asked incredulously.

Their first visit was the summer in which Harry had come of age, and was seventeen. Harry had discovered from the Gringotts goblins that what he had been given was just a trust fund, and there was even a manor that his parents had left for him. Apparently part of it had been destroyed in an attack by Voldemort, and the wards were down. With that thought in mind, Lily, James, and still unborn Harry Potter moved into Godric's Hollow and had the place warded to increase safety. Not that _that _course of action did much good.

After the war ended, Harry needed somewhere to mourn alone. He had picked Potter Manor because of its unknown and quiet location. Luna had opted to go with him, and keep him company, as well as get her own thoughts straight. Draco had joined soon after, and the childhood rivals had reconciled. However, unexpectedly, immediately upon entry they had been apprehended by rather angry looking house elves and brought into a shed. There, another angry looking house elf had demanded why they were trespassing on 'Master James' property.

Though that problem was solved soon afterwards, it proved how tight manor security was. Especially once the sorry house elves had hurriedly apologized to 'Master Harry' and showed him all of the defenses that they had constructed in order to prevent trespassers, in order to please the new young master. Needless to say, he wasn't exactly filled with happiness and joy to see all of the traps that his friends and himself could have fallen into.

Point proven, Draco sighed, exasperated. "So, how should we get there, then?"

"Maybe we should just go home and floo..." Luna trailed off.

"It seems like the only option, if a bit sudden, if we don't want to get eaten by mutated kneazles or something!" Harry agreed.

Draco nodded, and Harry smiled. "Let's go, then! On the count of three...one..."

"Hold on, Harry!" Draco exclaimed. "Let's find somewhere less revealing. It wouldn't do for anyone to see us!"

"Ah, about that...I modified the wards." Luna commented. "Nobody can see or hear us right now, until we all want to be seen. Since I'm the one holding the spell in place, as neither of you know of it, the wards aren't showing us because I wish for us to be hidden."

"That's convenient, good work, Luna!" Draco complimented.

Luna smiled, and replied, "Thank you. Let's continue then."

"Like I said, on the count of three then! One...two...three!" Harry yelled.

The trio disappeared with loud cracks (though inaudible to all present but the three) from Hermione and the Grangers' street.

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Harry sighed as he flopped himself onto the couch in the living room. Luna smiled, and Draco shook his head before heading for the fireplace. "Are you guys ready?" he asked.

Luna nodded, while Harry voiced a happy, "Yep!"

Draco grabbed a small handful of the green powder on the mantle of the fireplace and through it into the burning fire. The flames turned a bright emerald green, and he articulated clearly, "Longbottom Manor."

The trio waited patiently for a few moments, before a face appeared at the other side of the fire. "Guys!" Neville exclaimed excitedly,

"Merry Christmas!" the trio chorused in unison, beaming at their mutual friend.

"Who is it, Neville?" the four of them heard what seemed like Augusta Longbottom ask.

"Harry, Draco, and Luna!" Neville called back.

Moments later, the woman's face joined Neville's. "Hello, children."

"Hi, Mrs. Longbottom!" Harry greeted.

"Merry Christmas!" Draco added in.

"Merry Christmas," the two Longbottoms replied.

"Neville, could you back away from the floo for a second? Can I send something through?" Luna asked.

"Sure, Luna. Go ahead," the boy replied, before his face, as well as Augusta's, momentarily disappeared. Luna smiled, and gestured for Harry to place two sweets baskets into the fire. Harry nodded, and carefully tossed the two gifts into the emerald fire.

Moments later, Neville appeared again. "Thanks, guys! The sweets look great, where'd you get them?"

Harry seemed to shine with happiness, and Draco and Luna too, though to lesser extents than the often emotional brunet. "We made them this morning," Luna answered him.

"Wow, thanks, again!" Neville smiled back in true gratitude.

"You're welcome," Draco answered.

"Gran says thanks too, she had to go and answer the door, Great Aunt Enid and Great Uncle Algie are here for Christmas, and we wouldn't want them to wait..." Neville trailed off, as if remembering why exactly Augusta and her grandson wouldn't want their relatives to wait long. "She says sorry that she couldn't thank you herself, but she left as soon as you said you were sending something through. The doorbell kept ringing..."

The trio glanced at each other, never having met their friend's great uncle and aunt. However, the stories that the Longbottom used to tell and the peculiar behavior that he was exhibiting right now was more than enough reason why the trio was wary. "Would you like two more baskets for your great aunt and uncle?"

"Oh, no, this is more than enough!" Neville answered.

"Nonsense," smiled Harry, calling out a caution before tossing another two sweets baskets into the green fire.

"Thank you very much, Luna, Draco, Harry," replied Neville, reappearing seconds afterwards.

Luna spoke up, noting the amount of time that their Gryffindor friend had spent talking with them. "You'd better go and find your relatives, we wouldn't want to take up too much of your time. You should spend Christmas Eve with them. We'll see you when school starts!"

Neville hesitated slightly, before nodding. "By the way, where are you guys spending Christmas? Are you all okay?"

Harry answered, "We're all spending Christmas at my godfather's place. Sirius and Professor Lupin had to return to Hogwarts for something, so we'll be spending Christmas together."

"My father is in Egypt for a newspaper scouting expedition. He had wanted to spend winter break with me, or take me with him, but I insisted that he go. Dad sounded really excited about his trip, and went on and on about it, that I couldn't deny him the chance," Luna explained further. The trio had also wanted Luna with them, as their plans had revolved around telling everyone during winter break, which they definitely didn't want to do without Luna. The Lovegood had hesitantly talked Xenophilius out of Luna accompany him on the trip, and as much as the trio felt Luna's sadness, they knew that this was necessary.

Neville nodded in understanding, and said, "Thanks for the gifts! I'm sorry about the bother, I'll see you in awhile! Happy Holidays!"

"You're welcome, it's no bother at all! Thanks for the presents you sent us, bye! Happy Holidays!" Draco answered, the trio waving into the fire, as peculiar as that sounded. Neville was seen waving back, before the floo connection wavered and broke.

The trio waited for a second, before Harry asked, "Anyone else?"

"The twins? They sent us gifts for Christmas, didn't they?" Luna suggested.

Draco shrugged. "If you'd like to."

Though the blond had gotten much more tolerant and kind, Draco and Ron still didn't get on very well. This was mostly due to the fact that Ron was still rather prejudiced, with his ideas that all Slytherins were evil. They could tolerate each other, and stood each other's presences in the same room if others were there, but it undoubtable that the two would never become great friends.

Harry patted Draco's shoulder comfortingly, before tossing another pinch of the emerald powder into the flames.

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"Presents!" Harry jumped up and down with excitement. After their visiting calls, the three of them made their Christmas meal, simple but delicious. With another celebration with Sirius coming up, the trio had decided to eat casually, though anything that Harry had a part in creating was quite delicious In the beginning.

Luna smiled at Harry's child-like excitement, and Draco just rolled his eyes. Which he seemed to be doing a lot around the younger brunet. "Go find your presents, we'll meet up in a few minutes, okay?" Luna suggested.

Draco nodded, making his way upstairs. Luna left too, heading for the backyard. Harry grinned, and conjured the two packages he had been working on, brilliantly decorated and meticulously wrapped. He muffled a yawn, worn out from the series of events that happened today. Moments later, the two blonds appeared too, each bearing two gifts.

"Are you tired?" Draco asked upon entering the room, noting Harry's rapid blinking carefully.

Harry answered with a smile, "Not really."

Upon two suspicious stares, Harry lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Presents?" he asked, hoping fervently to divert their attention. It didn't really work, but Luna hesitantly let the issue go. She nodded, and placed a present each in her companions' laps. Both boys mumbled thanks and Luna smiled.

"How do you guys want to do this then?" Draco questioned.

Harry stared at him as if the blond was speaking Greek. "What do you mean how do we want to do this? They're presents, you open them." The emerald-eyed teen smiled.

Luna hid a grin behind a pale hand, suppressing a laugh at Draco's expression. Harry grinned at him cheekily.

"Why you…" Draco trailed off, jumping him in a playful tackle. Harry laughed aloud, and gestured towards the gifts.

"Come on!" Luna smiled at his child-like innocence, and nodded. She gently opened a package, the one from Draco, elaborately wrapped. She came across a box, and lifting the lid off, she came across what looked like a bunch of tissue paper. Lifting aside the delicate paper, the blonde saw a piece of paper. "Neh, what's this, Draco?"

"Look for yourself," replied the other blond. As directed, Luna picked up the slip. "Isn't this a ticket to that concert I've been meaning to watch? I do believe that is was being held in Paris."

Draco nodded, and explained, "There should also be a portkey around their somewhere. You just activate it, on the day of the concert, which is next Friday, and you'll be transported to Paris, France."

Luna smiled, and gently pulled her friend into a one-armed hug. "Thanks, how did you know I wanted to see this?"

The mercury-eyed teen just smiled, and motioned for the other's to open their gifts too, before picking up Luna's gift to him. The three of them basked in the comfort that they brought each other, merely sitting together. A wave of pleasant nostalgia fell over the trio, each feeling that 'warm and fuzzy' emotion. The atmosphere was perfect, warm, and comforting, all that the three time-travelers had ever hoped and dreamed of. And so they spent the Christmas Eve quietly, in each other's company. Somehow, it didn't matter much that the world was still in grave jeopardy, that the amount of dangers and troubles the three of them would have to face were still plentiful. In the warm little world Draco, Luna, and Harry were in, all was good.

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Harry felt warm. A sort of warm contentment had settled over him in the time he had spent with Luna and Draco during Christmas Eve. Present opening was over, sweets and warm milk eaten and drunk, and all three of them in their cozy beds for the night. As the teen had hoped, Luna and Draco had adored his gifts, and thanked him. Most of all, they were happy, and hopefully the cloaks would be able to protect them. That would be worth all the effort he had spent on tem, more thane enough reward. Draco had glared rather suspiciously at him, but hadn't commented aloud, at least.

Everything was right in the world, Harry thought, as he drifted off into a contented sleep for the first time in nearly a month, the time that they had spent at home, and also the time that Harry's cloaks became more than mere prototypes and drawings. As the welcome darkness overcame him, Harry couldn't help but smile dreamily.

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Draco stretched and yawned as he pulled himself from Morpheus' realm, and into the world of the living. Draco glanced at the clock, he noticed that it was already extremely late, well into the afternoon. Wondering why he had slept so soundly for so long, the blond remembered that the trio had spent yesterday night talking and just basking in each other's presence. Absentmindedly, Draco pondered why he had not been woken by a hyper Harry (they had consumed a ridiculous amount of sugar the night before, especially their little brunet) or a calm Luna.

Well, it was quite possible that Luna might still be sleeping. Though they were prone to pull all-nighters at times, it was rare for his friends to sleep in, both being early birds. He crawled out of bed, and to his astonishment, Harry's bed was still occupied. The brunet could be what most might call an early-bird to the extreme, and was usually never caught in bed this late, unless he was tied down by a pair of angry blonds.

Draco worriedly nudged his friend, waiting for the telltale sign of Harry's emerald eyes opening. When no sight of emerald was seen, Draco felt panic course through him harshly. "Harry?...Harry!"

The stressed blond received no answer.

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**So…here it is! Hope you all liked it, please review! ^^**


	18. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: Nope. I didn't spend my long absense fighting for the rights for Harry Potter, so...I still do not own.**

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Chapter 17

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Harry felt like he was drifting. The blackness that seemed to surround his very being was quite scary, but also, to a certain degree, somewhat comforting. In a strange way. However, the emerald-eyed teen soon felt himself being pulled out of the soothing darkness and into somewhere brighter, sharper, and much less warm.

Wearily blinking, that mere and slight action itself using much effort, Harry opened his eyes. And felt like he had been attacked by a vicious dragon out to get him. Not that _that_ hadn't happened before. Harry groaned as pain seemed to streak through his body at the slightest movements. That was weird. Why was he so sore?

The last thing he remembered was celebrating Christmas with his much belated friends, and then later heading to bed after opening presents. Harry had fallen asleep peacefully…unless they had been attacked by rogue Death Eaters? A common wizard burglar? Perhaps some angry and suspiciously placed magical animal?

As rather unpleasant scenarios ran through the teen's mind, he bolted up, worried about his friends. Bad idea. It appeared, not that it should be a surprise, that moving just made the pain much, _much_ worse. As his body screamed at Harry in protest, it seemed that so did whoever watching him did too.

Harry was gently, if a bit hastily, pushed back onto the soft covers. The emerald-eyed teen blinked open his eyes, and came across a pair of _extremely_ angry mercury eyes that seemed as cold as could be. Uh oh. Harry suppressed a sigh. Draco would definitely not be happy right now, and sighing would not help the situation in the slightest.

For some reason, according to Draco's reactions, the older blond took it as what seemed to be a personal insult whenever Harry got injured or sick. And after a huge amount of glaring and anger, he was still tended to gently and carefully.

Tentatively, Harry asked Draco, "Are you and Luna alright?"

"_No._" Draco glared harshly. Harry's heart seemed to drop in his chest, and upon seeing that, Draco's angry mercury eyes seemed to soften slightly, if only a degree. The blond sighed, rather heavily. "Do you have any idea how worried we were? What in the world were you thinking of?" Draco's tone seemed to elevate with every word.

"Um…what exactly happened?" Harry asked hesitantly. "How long was I out?"

Draco scrutinized him, peering into Harry's emerald eyes. "You've been unconscious for nearly a week. I woke up to find you unresponsive. Luna diagnosed it as a light coma, as light as comas can be. She doesn't know what caused it though…" Draco trailed off and stared at him accusingly. "What did you do?"

Harry suppressed a groan. Though he couldn't be one hundred percent sure why he remained unconscious for so long, he had quite a hunch. Apparently he made some sort of a sound though, because Draco continued, "Well?"

The door to his room opened suddenly to reveal Luna, who exclaimed, "Harry!" and then seemed to fly to his bedside. "You're awake!" the blonde beamed, the joy at Harry's consciousness outweighing her anger at whatever reason caused the illness in the first place.

Then, as if remembering, Luna scowled. "You idiot! What possessed you to take so many Pepper-Up potions?"

"Pepper-Up potions?" interjected Draco. "You know that those can be addictive if taken continuously! You're as good at potions as me; I shouldn't have to tell you that Pepper-Ups are for a brief all-nighter."

Harry opened his mouth to protest, "But I didn't even take…that…many…oh."

Draco rolled his eyes, and sighed. "Luna, why did Harry fall into a coma then? Even long-term use of Pepper-Up potions, as idiotic as it is, shouldn't be able to induce comas."

Luna stared at a rather guilty looking Harry, and answered Draco without breaking her gaze with the emerald orbs. "I think Harry should be the one to answer that. He should know what happened better than me, now that I mentioned the Pepper-Up potions."

Two pairs of mercury eyes now bore into him. Great. Harry was sure that his friends were all too much overprotective. Especially Draco, whom Harry thought was a mother-hen to the extreme, not that the blond would never admit it.

"Um…well, if a person takes too many Pepper-Up potions over time, exhaustion and an increased amount of dosage would be the first symptom. Then the signs of lack of natural rest would show, hot and cold flashes, lack of appetite, hallucinations, and others. That is, unless the dosage was repeatedly increased. Depending on the amount of magic of the user, the symptoms would also vary. If the person has a minimal amount of magic, the magic would just knock the body unconscious for a few days, until the amount of rest could be caught up naturally. However, if the amount of magic of the user was greater than average," Here Draco seemed to choke on something, which sounded suspiciously like 'You.' "then the person would be placed into a self-induced coma by the magic to make up for the lack of sleep."

Luna nodded at the explanation, and sighed. "I'll go make some soup; you haven't had many liquids besides intravenously." Sure enough Harry noticed an IV in his arm, the pouch filled with saline. He raised an eyebrow at the Muggle method of administrating hydration, and Luna answered the unspoken question. "You weren't responding to any hydration spells, and Draco went out and came back with Muggle machines. Where he got those from…" Luna shrugged.

"I'm sorry…" offered Harry. He truly was sorry, though he hadn't done it on purpose, nor even thought about that result. It had never come to the emerald-eyed teen that this might have happened, him worrying his friends while he was unresponsive. Sure, Harry knew the textbook response to an overdose of Pepper-Up potions over a continued amount of time well, but he wasn't one to usually apply this medical knowledge to himself.

Luna answered, seeing that Draco was still busy glaring at him, "We know. You do have to take better care of yourself though." She turned around and headed towards the door. "Harry, what soup would you like? I want to see if you can keep something down…"

"Tomato, please," the brunet answered. Potions medical textbooks warned that the prolonged use of Pepper-Up potions would have rather horrible side effects, given time. Though the symptoms varied from person to person, it was definite that the body would need much time to recover from this unpleasant ordeal.

Luna nodded, and smiled. "Get better," she said simply, before closing the door behind her.

Harry watched as Draco stood up, and peered at the IV. The blond pulled on latex gloves and changed the saline bag, gently disinfecting the area with a charm while he was at it. Harry hissed slightly at the sting, causing anxious mercury eyes to stare. Harry nodded, giving a reassuring smile that he was sure Draco needed right now, and Draco hesitantly continued. When Draco was finished, Harry asked, "If I'm going to drink soup, why do I still need the IV?"

Almost stiffly, Draco answered, "The IV is to replace the fluids that you were not able to drink when unconscious. Luna and I finally figured out that the hydration charms weren't working a couple days ago, so you might still be feeling more fatigued than would be normal."

Harry nodded, before gently opening his arms to the older boy. Draco looked at him with a cool gaze, as if asking what in the world he was doing. Seconds later, the blond gave in. The smaller brunet enveloped Draco in a light hug, comforting the stressed older boy. Draco shuddered in the embrace, and relished in the warmth. He was sure that he would never forget the fear that ran through him when Harry couldn't be roused, no matter what methods were used.

Harry murmured quiet comforting nothings into the bundle in his arms, and minutes later, Draco pulled away. Though he was sure that both Luna and Draco cared for him deeply, Draco always seemed to be the one to bottle his emotions into himself, unless openly asked to release them. Luna was what you may call more reasonable of the pair of blonds, though she wasn't without a fierce temper herself.

Though Draco's hugging posture did scream 'IDIOT!'…

"Thanks," whispered Draco, blinking a few times. "You're the one ill, yet I'm sobbing into your shoulder," he teased with a half-hearted smile. Harry grinned back cheekily at him.

"Can I get up now?" he asked, hopefully.

Draco gave him a deadpanned stare. "Get up. As in getting up after falling in a coma." The blond glared at him after seeing no joking in any of Harry's body gestures. "Are you crazy?"

Harry blinked...semi-innocently. "Not that I know of..."

Draco glared. "You're not going anywhere. You are going to lay here until Luna says your clear, and I agree with her."

"...don't we have to go back in a week? To Hogwarts?" Harry said.

"Just be quiet and rest. You've got to stop doing this to us." Draco told him harshly.

"...I'm sorry, Draco. I didn't mean to make you worry." Harry replied, truly regretful for making his older friend so anxious.

Draco just sighed, and replied, "We know. Sleep."

Harry nodded obediently, and closed his eyes. 'I really didn't mean to push this far. I guess I'm just not very attentive of the time.'

An hour later, Harry was nudged awake. "Harry? Wake up, drink your soup. You need to make sure you don't dehydrate, now that you're conscious. Come on."

He opened his eyes to a hovering Luna. She smiled at him, and helped prop the teen up on the soft pillows. The girl lifted up the tray from the night stand, and placed it carefully on Harry's lap. A quick charm ensured that it would not be spilled.

Harry murmured a thanks, and picked up his spoon. Or rather, tried to pick up the soon. The utensil slipped through fatigued fingers as soon as Harry moved to pick it up. He groaned. "This isn't going to bode well for me..."

"Quite right," Draco glared from his previously quiet position in one of the twin armchairs in the room they were sharing. "What in the world did you think you were doing? You can't even hold up a spoon! I would lock you in St. Mungo's myself if it wouldn't cause a ridiculous amount of suspicion."

"Draco," Luna chided. "Harry's tired, and he did apologize. I know you're worried, as am I, but yelling at him won't help."

The blond scowled, and stalked out of the room. Harry's sheer stupidity and the 'hero complex' he bore annoyed Draco, who made it his job to make sure that all three members of the trio remained healthy, though Harry was the one that needed his closest attention.

Harry sighed. "It was barely two weeks. I shouldn't have collapsed like that."

"You idiot. He's worried about the fact that you're doing such reckless things, not because of the fact that you were sick and needed help." Luna said.

"Still..."

"Harry!"

"Fine, fine."

Luna frowned. "Drink your soup, and go back to sleep."

"...sorry. I'm not really hungry right now. Please put it on the night stand?"

"You're dehydrated. Drink the soup, Harry. Besides, you haven't eaten anything solid for nearly a week, and you're the one that requested tomato soup."

Harry just nodded. "I'll get to it. Find Draco and go rest yourselves. This week hasn't been easy on the two of you either. I can drink it myself, neh?"

The blonde glared at him. "Harry. You can't hold a spoon."

"Yes I can!" Harry cast a cold look at the spoon, and picked it up stubbornly. Despite the fact that his hand trembled slightly, Harry did hold on to it, true to his word.

"...that spoon will drop any second. Besides, you're not supposed to be exerting that much energy while trying to lift a simple utensil." Luna chided.

Harry glared. "Just go rest, Luna. Drag Draco with you. I'll be fine."

"No."

"Luna...please."

Emerald eyes met mercury, before the blonde looked away. She sighed, and told Harry, "If that soup isn't gone by the time either of us are back, I will be supremely mad."

Harry smiled. "All right. Go rest, and find that stubborn friend of ours."

Luna rolled her eyes at the extremely ironic request he'd made of her, but nodded nonetheless. "Seriously though. If I come back to find that soup untouched, I will bring my wrath upon you. Not to mention what Draco will do."

"Yes, yes." Harry nodded.

With one last stare, Luna left.

The Potter smiled. Luna was always one to trust his words, and break her resolve after seeing Harry's sincerity. And Harry was always sincere, he just had a bit of a problem with caring for his own physique was much as he did for others.

Casting a hesitant glance at the soup, and at his quivering hand, Harry sighed. He hadn't thought that the potion intake he'd been taking would be so bad as to cause such adverse side effects. Harry hadn't meant to cause Luna and Draco trouble, though he seemed to get into a lot of troublesome situations in which worry for each other was always there.

Running one hand through raven locks, he spelled the tray onto his night stand with the other. Blinking wearily, Harry lay back down. Closing his eyes, he drifted off uneasily; Harry could always drink the soup in a few more minutes.

-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-

"Draco?" Luna found the fuming blond perched on a tree in the backyard, as odd a position as it was. "Why are you sitting in that tree?"

"...the Black Manor has too many nooks and crannies that could be fatal to explore, unlike the mansion that Harry inherited. I needed somewhere to think, and this...seemed like the only option."

Luna blinked. "Ah...come inside. You must be tired, you haven't left Harry's bedside since you discovered that he was unconscious."

"I'll be fine."

"...Honestly, both you and Harry are stubborn idiots! Why won't you just rest?" Luna watched worriedly as the bundle sitting in the tree moved slightly, before Draco climbed down. She smiled at him. "Come on, I made more than enough soup. We should drink some ourselves as well, lest we get dehydrated."

Draco just nodded, and followed her silently. Ladling two bowls full of the warm soup, she also presented him with some sandwiches. "Harry didn't look like he could keep much more than fluid down, so...I'll go check on him, sit down and drink."

"No, I'll go," Draco answered. "I was a bit out of line before. Though he definitely shouldn't have done something so reckless, I didn't help much by yelling at him, however worried I was."

Luna tucked back a stray lock of blonde hair, before nodding. "Fine. If he's asleep, bring the tray downstairs?"

"Ok," Draco replied, before heading up the stairs. At the door, he knocked gently. Upon receiving no response, he opened the door slightly. He came across Harry wrapped up in the thicker quilt that Luna had found, and the soup untouched. Draco scowled. As smart of an idea as intravenously giving fluids, taking in as much in fluids as possible was ideal. Harry should have taken in fluids orally as soon as he was able to.

"Harry?" he called out quietly.

"Yes?"

"Drink your soup."

"I will."

"Now."

"Yes, yes."

"Harry!"

The raven opened his eyes. "I know. Go rest yourself, Draco, I'll get to the soup soon. I'm just a bit tired."

"What hurts?" Draco asked, seeming to reappear at Harry's side as soon as his sentence was voiced.

"I'm fine, Draco. Just a bit sore. Let me sleep it off. Go eat and rest yourself, you haven't left to do much since you found me unconscious nearly a week ago, right?"

Harry was met with silence. "See? Hurry up and rest. I'll be fine. You know the effects of a Pepper Up potion overdose. I just need to lie here for a bit, nothing really bad."

"Are you talking about the same medical definition I am? Pepper Up potion overdoses–heck, overdoses on anything, including potions for that matter–could be and often is fatal! You don't just, just...sleep it off and expect your health to improve!"

Harry stopped the blond before the rant could go on and deepen. Giving Draco a wry smile, he answered "I am the Harry Potter, and I can't just go and die."

"Don't even joke about that!" an exasperated Draco yelled.

"Either way, I'm fine. Go drink your soup, rest, find something relaxing to do," Harry replied patronizingly.

"You're the one hooked to machines and stuck in bed!" Draco glared, extremely annoyed by Harry's behavior. Like he had said in his...less articulate youth, Harry did have a hero complex–the slightest thought of anyone worrying about him set the brunet into irritating disregard for his own health.

"Yes, yes..." Harry trailed off. "Mind taking my soup with you? I'm not very thirsty right now."

"You're not listening to me!" Draco shouted accusingly. 'That idiot, can't he see Luna and I are worried about him? He's not usually such a blockhead...unless...something is bothering him.' Draco frowned internally. Pausing for several minutes (which caused emerald green eyes to rest on him curiously), he came across his epiphany. "You can't...still think I'm mad at you, right?"

Harry averted his gaze, and Draco got his answer.

"Idiot!"

"Is that the only word in your vocabulary today?" Harry interjected with a strained smile.

"Don't interrupt me. Harry...you know I'm not really mad at you, don't you? I might still think that you're an insufferable idiot with no regards for yourself, but I'm not really mad. Annoyed and worried as anything, but not mad," Draco said quietly.

"I know."

Draco sighed, and sat himself down on the side of Harry's bed. The brunet hoisted himself up gingerly and moved to the side.

"Don't move!" Draco scowled immediately.

Harry resisted rolling his eyes at the over-reacting (at least to him) blond, and simply nodded, feeling that it was easier for him to just do so.

"Harry...sorry."

"You don't have anything to apologize for. I was being a bit recklessly, but I knew what I was doing." Disregarding Draco's incredulous scoff, the brunet continued. "I'm just not really hungry right now, I'm not undergoing some huge emotional crisis," Harry smiled softly at him.

"Oh really?" Draco drawled out.

"Yes."

"I believe you," Draco answered sarcastically. "I've been rooming with you for years, you'd think I know when you're feeling down."

Harry sighed. "All right, I'm a bit upset at your exclamation, but it still wasn't your fault. Then again, it's not like I tried to overdose on potions..."

"And you better not ever do it again, unwilling, or Merlin forbid, willing!" Draco murmured darkly.

"Now that this is cleared up, go drink your soup and sleep," Harry smiled fondly, more genuinely then before. "It'll get cold."

Draco raised an eyebrow at him, and waved a wand across Harry's soup. Delicious smelling steam once again wafted across the top of the bowl, and Harry shrugged. "Either way, it did get cold..."

"I'm not leaving until you finish this bowl. You've been intravenously given fluids for nearly a week, there is no way that you are not thirsty or hungry in the slightest. I'll spoon feed it to you if I have to," Draco threatened.

Harry pouted. "You wouldn't."

"Try me."

"You...really would?" Harry tilted his head to the side. "That's...a bit to the extreme, don't you think?"

"No. Now drink, or I'll feed it to you."

Harry grudgingly allowed Draco to place the tray on his lap, magically suspended, and picked up the spoon. Or rather, (again), sort of. To his credit, the emerald eyed teen did managed to hold on for a total of five seconds...before he dropped the utensil rather noisily. "Oops."

"...you didn't bother to remind me that you can't hold a spoon before you risk a relapse by spending that much energy trying to pick up your spoon?"" Draco glared accusingly.

"Yes...no, I mean no..." Harry smiled innocently.

He received no reply, except for a spoon full of warm liquid at his mouth. Harry managed to not choke, a brilliant feat itself. The teen stubbornly kept his mouth closed, and glared at his friend. Draco just smiled, too innocently for Harry's liking, and insistently held the soup there until Harry finally hesitantly swallowed.

"You..." the brunet pouted.

"Please. I'm not torturing you, it can't be so hard to swallow soup, of which I am spoon-feeding you," Draco rolled his eyes.

"It's very hard. Especially the spoon-feeding part," Harry sighed. "Thanks though...I guess."

Draco replied, "It's not that bad. This isn't the first time you've done something so reckless and utterly idiotic that I've had to spoon feed you...speaking of which, what is wrong with you? Do you have a little voice that tells you to do such things?"

"No..." Harry dragged out. "And the things I do aren't stupid!"

"Yeah, yeah, drink your soup," Draco coaxed, and held another spoonful up to the brunet, watching him reluctantly take it before giving off a smile. "There!"

The process was repeated, until Luna's soup was finished, and the brunet had nodded off. Upon making sure that Harry truly was sleeping, Draco left afterward. 'He was actually hurt by my words...Harry...but, that's unusual, to say in the least. Maybe because of the mood swings that come with a few cases of poisoning? He's been acting sort of off, since he's woken up.' Draco frowned, continuing down the hall. Harry would tell them if there was something that seemed wrong, he had to.

-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-

Two weeks later, Draco and Luna trailed behind Harry worriedly as they made their way back onto the train. Winter break had come and gone, and the trio was through with half of their third year.

When Sirius had returned with Remus, grumbling about the job that he had to take during his first winter vacation with his godson, the Black had almost had a heart attack upon seeing a sleepy looking Harry hooked up to foreign machines. _That_ was definitely something that the trio would _not_ want to explain again. After a thorough berating, and the remaining amount of the vacation, Harry had insisted upon coming to Hogwarts with everyone else, despite Luna's worried expressions, Draco's frowns, and the anxious glances that Sirius and Remus both gave.

So, the trio and the two Marauders came back to the castle situated school. When Harry, Draco, and Luna boarded the train and separated from the elder men, they came across Hermione. The Ravenclaw waved brightly, and Harry, as well as Luna, returned her wave. Draco nodded at the girl, and received an elbow in his stomach from Harry. "Be nice," the green eyed teen smiled rather cheekily.

Draco didn't say anything. 'It isn't my fault that you've got me all worked up into such a bad mood,' he muttered mentally to himself.

"Draco?"

"What?" the teen snapped moodily from his seat in the compartment the three Slytherins, Neville, and Hermione were sharing.

Harry looked a bit hurt. "I was asking you if you wanted chocolate frogs or something else? You've been zoning out all day, are you all right? You didn't even notice when I dragged you into this compartment..."

Luna reached over from her place between Neville and Hermione, and felt his forehead. "No fever..."

"I'm not sick," muttered the blond.

Luna began to speak again, but Harry waved her off. "Let him brood, you know Draco..."

The blond cast a mildly offended look at the raven, but Harry just smiled at him. "I do."

They returned to class, to their regular routines. Harry's health was monitored closely by an irate Draco, but other than that, everything went normally, so normally that the trio was rather suspicious.

Third year had been the time that everything seemed to start going wrong for Harry in the original time line, with a newly discovered godfather and past, the discovery of Pettigrew, and about a billion other things. Despite the fact that the emotional and psychological conflicts didn't come until fourth year, when asked, Harry would definitely say that third year was when everything started to go awry.

Nevertheless, the year did pass quickly, and besides the various incidents that the trio caused to stir things up a bit, everything went quietly.

End of the year exams were soon upon them, and the trio did their fair share of studying, although it wasn't the same material that their year mates were working on. Harry had branched off his potions experience, learned more about healing and medical spells and potions from Luna, and kept his physical condition at its prime (at least as good of a physical condition one at thirteen had). Draco had decided to do some of his own findings, and constantly had his mercury eyes trained on a book. Luna had done the same, though she seemed to be spending more and more time (when not with her friends) in the Forbidden Forest, observing the various plants and creatures that inhabited the creepy haven, despite the boys' protests. She could take care of herself, after all.

Whatever was going to happen was going to happen soon, and the trio was going to be prepared. There was always the chance that something, anything, would go wrong, but they were doing everything in their power to prevent it.

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**This is short, I haven't updated in forever, I know...I will get to it! I have the rest of the story planned out, at least roughly, so the chapters should come more quickly. Thanks for the support and patience, everyone. Please drop me a review? I would really appreciate it. Thanks for reading!**


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